Transcript (Cantonese to English 粵譯英)
Bot: Hello everybody.
Keith: Hello everybody.
Bot: The internet connection is not stable today. Can you guys hear us? Any feedback? Is there any audio delay? We can’t see the comments again?
Keith: I worry if it delays for several seconds.
Bot: The internet connection (in Malaysia) seems to be seeing no improvement. It is stable sometimes, though.
Keith: Which is why I always use an internet cable.
Bot: Internet cable?
Keith: Yup.
Bot: Hello, everybody.
Keith: Hello, everybody.
Bot: Dear friends, is there a delay?
Keith: I need to get you a long internet cable next time.
Bot: Oh ya? As you all can see, today’s title: nearly 1,000 poor students at Universiti Malaya have one meal each day. Is this for real? I didn’t studied in a university, because I attended Tunku Abdul Rahman College.
Keith: I see. TAR College.
Bot: You studied in a foreign university.
Keith: In Taiwan.
Bot: Is it a college or university?
Keith: University.
Bot: University.
Keith: National university.
Bot: Their public university.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: When you were studying in Taiwan, any person experienced something like this?
Keith: Haven’t heard of such thing at all.
Bot: Never heard of it.
Keith: Never heard of it.
Bot: When I was studying, I found my friends to be quite good-looking. I was the poorest person among them, but it wasn’t as miserable as one meal each day.
Keith: When we were in Taiwan… I never experienced starving in Taiwan, not even for one meal. I ate quite well.
Bot: Let’s not talk about university students. As we chatted just now, I found interesting to see some comments. Some said university students are using mobile phones of several thousand ringgit, and nobody wants to use one that costs 1,000 to 2,000 ringgit. They said it is impossible for them to go on without meals or one meal each day. They said it is miserable. They had different comments.
Bot: Take my son for example. I need to give him one or two ringgit to go to school, because he can’t buy food (with any amount lower than that).
Keith: One ringgit for a bun.
Bot: I wonder if you can get a bun. Let’s not talk about the 80-cent Gardenia bun.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: That fetches less profit (for the food sellers at school). Their canteen doesn’t sell that. I believe a nugget or two cost you one ringgit.
Keith: That’s possible.
Bot: At the coffee shop downstairs, a cup of coffee ice…
Keith: It costs more than two ringgit.
Bot: Two-something. Or at least two ringgit.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: How is it possible for one to have only one meal each day? I roughly went through the news report, it is said many of them have roti canai with grilled sauce and vegetables. That’s a one-day meal for them.
Keith: Guang Ming Daily said that they had three meals a day – bread for two meals, and rice for the other meal. The rice is served with egg and sambal and vegetables. Not that this is impossible. But we have to understand why they have to do this.
Keith: We should not suspect that they use very nice mobile phones and become very frugal on their daily meals. I don’t believe in such allegation.
Bot: There are people who are suffering. When I was studying in a national school, some schoolmates were poor – but never to the extent of having only one meal each day.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: They hailed from rural area.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: For friends who have just joined us, let us introduce ourselves. This is our Random Talk programme. Two bald men talking here.
Keith: (Laughing)
Bot: It is our Monday talk show time. If you have comments and new clues, please feel free to tell us. There are many peculiar news nowadays. Such as this news we saw today. It reads: nearly 1,000 poor students at Universiti Malaya have one meal…
Keith: To live by each day.
Bot: Throughout my life, my family is not rich. We are poor since years ago. But not to the extent of having only one meal each day. That’s miserable.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: We can at least eat two meals of Maggi Mee. When I was studying at TAR College, I cooked two packs of duck-flavoured noodles at night.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: I wasn’t rich back then. One pack of duck-flavoured noodles couldn’t fill up your stomach.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: I cooked the noodles in a pot. I held the pot sitting at the front door and ate it.
Keith: At your dorm entrance or somewhere else?
Bot: Dorm entrance.
Keith: I was luckier when I was studying at university.
Bot: What you had most of the time?
Keith: I had good meals, three times a day.
Bot: You are no good.
Keith: I had soybean juice and deep-fried dough stick or hamburger for breakfast. It was cheap, about NT$20 to 30.
Bot: How much was it in ringgit?
Keith: Three to four ringgit.
Bot: That cheap?
Keith: Things are not expensive in Taiwan. When you travelled in Taiwan, did you find things to be expensive in Taiwan?
Bot: I didn’t expect it to be this cheap. During my TAR College days, a meal costs… Can’t remember now. Lost of memory.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: Two ringgit. Two-something and you would get three dishes. Two vegetables and one meat.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: If any stall raises their selling price, you would see poor students and residents around there opposed against it.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: Boycott this stall.
Keith: I see.
Bot: But haven’t tried this before.
Keith: I usually had lunch at campus cafeteria. If I had one meat and one vegetable, it cost NT$20-something. Equivalent to three ringgit or more. Or a bowl of seafood noodles with kimchi soup for NT$50. Our university subsidised a lot. As for dinner, if I returned to the cafeteria again, two vegetables and one meat cost me NT$40-something to NT$50. You had free flow of rice, soup and tea.
Bot: You spent a maximum of RM15 on food each day.
Keith: It is safer if you allocate NT$100-something to NT$200. Because I had a gluttony in Taiwan. I always went to YongKang Street, which is much talked about in Taiwanese TV programmes. That was just behind my university. I used to walk there for a Hongkonger’s Cantonese barbecue restaurant. I had meals there several times a week.
Bot: Let me stick my nose into something. I didn’t study abroad before; I studied locally. Who supported your studies?
Keith: I stood on my own feet.
Bot: But how? I was curious. Please elaborate.
Keith: In Taiwan, the hourly wage is high. It was NT$80 to 100 per hour (during my time). I could support myself.
Bot: You worked part time after school hours.
Keith: Worked part time. Worked longer hours during long vacations. You accumulated the income. You could survive, by only getting several thousand ringgit from your family. I had financial assistance during university studies. I could survive.
Keith: In overall, I invested more than 100,000 ringgit or one million NT dollars in higher education.
Bot: For how many years?
Keith: Five years. One year pre-university, and four years at university. One million NT dollars.
Bot: Wow.
Keith: It was valuable. Because my university was very strict. It trained and nurtured me into what I am today. I really appreciate my university.
Bot: That’s interesting, when we talked about studying abroad.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: I worked part time in the past, but not that much. Some friends got me to work as an assistant for RM50 a day. Or I worked as a photographer.
Keith: The situation in Malaysia is that university students who work part-time earn low wages.
Bot: That was previous situation and I didn’t know much. But for us, it was not that pathetic. We had not experienced such misery.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: Let me check if the internet connection is unstable.
Keith: Anyone comments?
Bot: Let me check the comments. It is quite troublesome. There is a delay. It cannot be seen.
(Background voice)
Bot: The internet connection in Malaysia is kind of strange. I have only one connection here, but the connection is…
Keith: Uh-huh. It is very peculiar.
Bot: We shall try using internet cable next time.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: Sorry, friends. Let me give it a try. I am also recording it today. Let me check if I can synchronise the audio and video before uploading to YouTube.
Keith: Yup. Sorry.
Bot: We don’t know about the connection problem.
Keith: Shall we just record our future sessions?
Bot: Is it disconnected now? It is hard to explain what actually is going on here.
Bot: Very sorry. I was quite busy last week. I wanted to invite a guest to come over but he is also busy. Which is why only two of us are chatting here. It is an ordinary chat.
Bot: When I saw this news…
Keith: I feel saddened.
Bot: I am not saddened. I am saddened when Najib said pity. Many netizens commented…
Keith: Some said he had one billion…
Bot: They said he should donate and let others have some food. He said he pities them. But this is funny, as in I can’t understand politicians.
Keith: Politics… I have a dislike for politicians.
Bot: I have a random thought just recently though. In recent years, we joined Bersih demonstrations for a change in government.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: We demonstrated and shared stories which disadvantaged the previous government.
Keith: Disadvantageous news.
Bot: Disadvantageous news. And the old government becomes an opposition now.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: I wonder if my son would take part in future Bersih demonstrations so that Najib could be freed?
Keith: Not to that extent, I guess.
Bot: Would it be that pathetic?
Keith: Not sure. What I saw now is that the trials take longer time. We had better not to comment on judicial procedures.
Bot: As far as you are concerned, why it takes so long?
Keith: You need to bring a case to the court to be read and agreed by both parties to submit the case to high court. There are procedures at high court and there could be delays. That’s inevitable.
Bot: But why the delays? Because of insufficient evidence? Such as what we watched from films.
Keith: On one occasion, a lawyer felt discomfort and applied for a delay.
Bot: With delays, it could drag on for one year.
Keith: We worry if it drags on for long. We hope the process is hastened. Frankly speaking, guilty or not guilty, you need to go through the process before you have a verdict.
Bot: Some individuals committed crime but they are walking around and giving comments.
Keith: Because you haven’t had that verdict to say he is guilty. You haven’t come to that stage.
Bot: So he can lead an ordinary lifestyle. Does he have to pay, if the case drags on?
Keith: It is really expensive to hire lawyers.
Bot: The case has no verdict yet, the lawyers have to work until the end of the case.
Keith: Simply put, do you drag the case because you worry if your lawyers are out of a job? For example, Donald Tsang, former chief executive of Hong Kong. I heard this from Stephen Shiu. He said that Tsang leads a frugal lifestyle throughout his life. His wife and him saved up to HK$40 million.
Bot: HK$40 million. How much in ringgit?
Keith: More than RM20 million.
Bot: Okay.
Keith: But he spent half of it hiring lawyers.
Bot: Why so? Do lawyers have licence to rob? Is it really expensive?
Keith: It really is expensive, especially for Donald Tsang’s case, when they hired Queen’s counsel from Britain and the case dragged on. The expenses were really expensive.
Bot: For an ordinary folk like me, it is peculiar. I don’t really do research about law and what is written on newspapers.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: Someone charged him. But he is still a free man. He gives comments when poor students have no sufficient food. He said he feels sad and asked why the education minister is not doing anything about it.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: When he is free, he criticises that we incurred a loss in Malaysia Airlines.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: I can’t understand such situation, as in why the case cannot be processed quickly.
Keith: The case is complicated and you need to go through many processes. You need to examine many things. You need to go through many cases if many charges are pressed against him.
Bot: I saw a news that a teacher committed a sin and is directly…
Keith: That was one case.
Bot: A ten-year imprisonment and some lashes.
Keith: Uh-huh. Possible, because that was only one case.
Bot: I wonder if law sides with the rich.
Keith: Many would say it is a game for the rich.
Bot: A game for the rich. They used…
Keith: Law.
Bot: They used law to make money. Someone asked if we can lodge a complaint? But how? Do we complain about the slow internet connection?
Keith: I think…
Bot: Is it getting slower now? How many are watching us now?
Keith: Two viewers now.
Bot: Something is wrong today. We have to come up with a method to deal with the connection problem. Initially, I had many angles. But now, I have only one camera and I can’t move the images around. But it still is slow. We record and release at the same time, and we saw no comments. It is live now.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: But I can’t see comments.
Keith: It really is peculiar.
Bot: It is really strange. How do I view the comments?
Keith: Yup.
Bot: Alright. They are here now.
Keith: It returns again.
Bot: So sorry, my friends.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: For those who just joined us, we thought of receiving comments from you all. Because I was not a very poor student in the past. I was not rich though.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: I asked Keith just now. He said he had a comfortable life in Taiwan.
Keith: When I returned for a vacation, my friends said I had fair skin and became fatter.
Bot: That’s right. When we said university students had no money, did they use it… For example, they had PTPTN (higher education loan). Some news reports said that…
Keith: They took the money to help their families.
Bot: They took PTPTN loan to assist their family members.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: They have to be very thrifty. But are they very busy, that they don’t even have time to work part time?
Keith: Yup. They can take up part-time jobs to make some money.
Bot: As far as I am concerned, university years are not that busy.
Keith: Not to that extent.
Bot: Form Six is the busiest time.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: Your pre-school level.
Keith: Pre-university.
Bot: You’re busier during pre-U. If they are so busy that they have no time to work part time.
Bot: Are you guys listening? Those who have joined us. Frankly speaking, the connection is so slow. I wonder how we can run a live talk show next time. Or we shall record and upload it to YouTube. But that would attract no viewers. You know Facebook policy? You are not visible when you don’t advertise it.
Keith: You need to pay for it.
Bot: You need to pay. There are different methods to make money. Varsity students can now sell things online and take up part-time jobs, which are easier to get, if compared to the past.
Keith: They can take up lots of interesting jobs.
Bot: During my college years, I took up jobs to move audio equipment around and earned not more than RM50 a day. I earned RM40 on some days. Some bosses were better and if we worked longer hours, my pay was RM60.
Keith: What part-time jobs you during college days?
Bot: Photographer, audio equipment.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: I had more photography jobs though.
Keith: It helped you make ends meet.
Bot: Didn’t help much. My elder sister was the one who helped me.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: My elder sister supported my studies.
Keith: I see.
Bot: Several hundred ringgit each month.
Keith: For students, several hundred ringgit is also helpful.
Bot: I spent two to three ringgit each meal.
Keith: About ten ringgit each day.
Bot: I remember that was also the time I was in a relationship.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: My girlfriend and I bought fish and chicken. A frozen chicken cost you RM7.90 back then.
Keith: I see.
Bot: RM7.90 to 8.
Keith: About eight ringgit.
Bot: You can cook many meals with one chicken.
Keith: Provided that you know how to cook.
Bot: We cooked all the time. For example, four pomfrets for more than three ringgit.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: For one meal, we had one fish, fried chicken wings and vegetables. It could be really cheap when you two shared the meals.
Keith: Cheaper than eating out. Right?
Bot: It saved up a lot.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: If you get some friends and cook together, you fed several people with only ten ringgit.
Keith: Saved you even more money. There is a method.
Bot: Three of you can cook and there is no problem.
Keith: There is a method. Does such method still exist now? For the sake of saving money. Things are expensive, which is why…
Bot: It is not about high cost. It is about whether you want to lead such a lifestyle.
Keith: Leading such lifestyle or not…
Bot: If each of your meal is…
Keith: Too simple and repetitive…
Bot: We are not eating expensive food now. For now, our cooking focuses on healthy food that helps us keep slim.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: You don’t feel the burden, if you don’t focus on the main point.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: If you want to have sumptuous food but you can’t afford it, you feel suffering. I feel different when I want simple and healthy food to help me keep slim.
Keith: Keep it simple and maintain your weight.
Bot: Vegetables are inexpensive.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: For one to three ringgit you can get a handful of vegetables.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: You serve vegetables with rice. Try it with minced meat and egg. That’s a simple meal.
Keith: I am fine if I have sandwich for lunch.
Bot: Is it expensive to have sandwich? Do you make it yourself?
Keith: I don’t know about the cost of making your own sandwich. I bought it at Aeon supermarket. Two to three ringgit. Three ringgit.
Bot: One sandwich is good enough?
Keith: Sandwich, banana and cereal oat. It is just fine.
Bot: Yup.
Keith: I saw foreigners in Australia having a loaf of bread for several days. They had bread for dinner. It was fine for them.
Bot: If you buy a loaf of bread for breakfast for several days, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Keith: But they had it for dinner.
Bot: I experienced such lifestyle as well. When I was Form Five, we went to Genting Highlands.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: That was the toughest time because I led the most frugal lifestyle when I was working at Genting.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: How did we save money? One meal at workers’ canteen, and we had Maggi Mee for another meal.
Keith: Was that a trip or something?
Bot: Working there.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: While waiting for our public exam results.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: I came from Bentong and Genting was a popular spot for part-time jobs.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: It cost you more when eating at workers’ canteen. Which was why we had Maggi Mee for dinner. But that was not enough to fill up your stomach.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: We usually bought another pack of noodles plus Maggi Mee.
Keith: Mixed it up and it became a bigger portion.
Bot: Bigger portion.
Keith: Bigger portion.
Bot: Another friend was even thriftier. He said he only felt full when he had the soup. This was a golden rule.
Keith: The soup won’t stop your hunger for long.
Bot: You eat the noodles and you must have the soup.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: That’s how you feel full.
Keith: I see.
Bot: He suggested this idea but we carried on with our own method. He had his method for one week and his mouth swelled.
Keith: This is no kidding.
Bot: We were poor. But how poor? We were happy back then.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: Because all your friends tried to save money.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: You were not the only poor student. Everybody wanted to save money. I remember I earned slightly more than 1,000 ringgit each month back then.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: If you are frugal enough, you bring home all your earning. If you are not frugal, you would have several hundred after spending on other expenses.
Keith: Which is why I said the hourly wage is low and you can’t get enough money.
Bot: Hourly wage for part-time jobs in Malaysia is very low.
Keith: In Taiwan, it starts from at least NT$100 or more per hour.
Bot: The part-time pay here is low. Let’s not talk about hour rate. A daily wage could earn you RM50. It is not difficult.
Keith: RM50 is insufficient.
Bot: Work ten days and you’ll have extra RM500.
Keith: RM500…
Bot: Four days get you RM200. I had more than RM400 to spend during college years. If I had extra RM200, I could bring my girlfriend for a movie.
Keith: We earned more in Taiwan, sometimes up to more than NT$1,000 a day.
Bot: That’s quite good.
Keith: Lunch box is the cheapest in Taiwan, it costs NT$50 to 60. You can eat better with NT$80, or have a hot pot for NT$100 to 200.
Bot: Did you regret returning to Malaysia? This is the biggest problem, since you already had a happy life in Taiwan. Did you regret your return?
Keith: I don’t think it that way. We are still Malaysians, after all. You will still want to come home.
Bot: That’s better.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: We changed the government.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: Just last year, I had a brief idea about working abroad.
Keith: I thought of this problem several years ago. We can get that image back.
Bot: We have this image now.
Keith: Nope. Oh, this one? Alright.
Bot: We have more friends now. Hi, everybody. I’ll check if I can edit the video later so that the audio and video are in sync.
Bot: For those who rarely meet up for a cup of tea, we take this as a tea session for us to catch up.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: Please feel free…
Keith: To comment.
Bot: Let’s see how we can work on this.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: We are talking about how we made and spent money during college and university.
Keith: How to live.
Bot: I had a Honda motorcycle back then. Its front and rear lights were faulty. It was expensive to get new light bulbs. I had no money and I took a generator from…
Keith: Bicycle.
Bot: A generator from a bicycle.
Keith: You are peculiar.
Bot: I modified it and fitted it on the motorcycle.
Keith: That’s peculiar.
Bot: Throughout the whole week, I felt the happiest when going to night market in Sri Rampai.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: That was the most joyful time during TAR College years.
Keith: Why?
Bot: Many things were sold there.
Keith: That’s peculiar.
Bot: They sold fruits there. When it was a lychee season…
Keith: You had lychee.
Bot: We bought a lot and peeled them, kept the fruits in tupperware to keep in a refrigerator.
Keith: Won’t they dry up very quickly?
Bot: They did dry up. But we had no other method.
Keith: Ate them up very quickly.
Bot: We were poor students and the fruit was cheap. For slightly more than ten ringgit, you bought a basket of lychee.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: We shared the cost and bought together. That was the happiest time. I wonder if a varsity student feels miserable for being frugal? Did you compare with your university mates? Why are you so rich and leading a better lifestyle?
Keith: Frankly speaking, my university is not that complicated. I studied at NTNU.
Bot: Everybody was the same.
Keith: NTNU is simple. If you study at a private university such as Fu Jen Catholic University or Shih Chien University attended by Ashin of Mayday, those are universities attended by rich kids. The female students could be spending a lot of time on make-up. I am glad that NTNU is not that complicated.
Bot: I found my college to be quite good that time.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: There was no such thing.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: The dormitory is located nearby the campus. We walked to the campus.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: We felt happy. Throughout my lifetime, college years were the happiest time.
Keith: Me too. I felt happiest during university years.
Bot: You knew how much money you needed to spend. How much for each meal. It was all fixed.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: That was an enjoyable lifestyle.
Keith: That was the time.
Bot: When it is reported that almost 1,000 of UM students… It is difficult to get an entrance into UM.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: You have to reach a requirement academically to get into UM.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: Since you can make it academically, it is impossible that you have no scholarship.
Keith: Some might have scholarship; they need not pay for tuition fees. My viewpoint is that they might need to take up part-time jobs to make ends meet.
Bot: It is hard to blame some netizens who said that varsity students used expensive phones and spent time at internet cafes for online games but had no money for food. People in modern age can never live without mobile phones. I wonder if some students are so poor that they have no mobile phones.
Keith: That’s impossible. In the past, however poor you were, you still had a computer.
Bot: We had no mobile phones back then.
Keith: I had a mobile phone and a computer.
Bot: But that was an ordinary mobile phone in older years.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: As for computer…
Keith: You must have it. Don’t you have to submit your assignment?
Bot: I did not have a computer back then. But I borrowed one from my elder sister for my studies.
Keith: Which means you had it.
Bot: My elder sister had no computer. It was difficult for a poor family to have a computer.
Keith: From my observation, I have friends who studied locally. I can’t understand one point. Why do varsity students need to drive? I can’t make heads or tails of this.
Bot: That’s right. Many friends of mine drove during college years.
Keith: It spent you a lot of money. A lot of money.
Bot: It is said that students from poorer families, when they moved to a new place…
Keith: They are being influenced.
Bot: Richer kids might look down at them. Some might tease them for being poor. During my college years, there was no such thing.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: I remember I was the poorest in the class.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: I didn’t have fancy clothes and shoes back then.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: I led an ordinary lifestyle. Some of my friends were the same. Some of my rich friends came over to fetch me to the campus. Some housemates asked why my friends fetched me to the campus with their nice cars.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: You were just steps away from the campus. Why your friends still came over to fetch you?
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: I did not feel a gap between rich friends and myself. We went for karaoke sessions together. They footed the bill. Did you have such schoolmates?
Keith: Some of my schoolmates are rich. Let me tell you this: Taiwanese society is quite unique. Which I appreciate it. You might find me to be leading a simple life. I am actually influenced by the Taiwanese.
Bot: Okay.
Keith: Rich Taiwanese are not particular about that fancy look. They don’t want a glamorous outlook. Many of our professors took bus and Taipei Metro to work. We had a professor who taught us the Analects of Confucius. He said he had an Audi during his richest years and he had ten million. Which I believed. Because it was quite okay to make money in Taiwan in the past.
Bot: Okay.
Keith: He said he sold the car and took bus to our university instead. The 7am bus driver recognised him.
Bot: That is because of their environment and climate. Some books and newspapers said some professors ride bicycles to university.
Keith: Yup. They take the MRT. Even Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je took bus to his office everyday. His wife is also a doctor, you know that?
Bot: Yup.
Keith: Even Ma Ying-jeou’s wife, who worked as international bureau chief at Mega International Commercial Bank, she also took bus to work. They can lead a very frugal life.
Bot: We have such people here as well. Some white-collar workers and those with higher positions, they are also taking LRT to work.
Keith: Yup. What I appreciate about Taiwanese society is their simple lifestyle. Ma Ying-jeou and his wife lived in JingMei, nearby Shih Hsin University. Newspapers often wrote about this. They often cooked rice at home and bought some dishes at night market. They are celebrities but they still lead an ordinary lifestyle. A style which I admire a lot.
Bot: It is their knowledge…
Keith: The atmosphere of the society, the standard of the society…
Bot: Their upbringing.
Keith: Their upbringing…
Bot: They have better upbringing.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: We have different environment here. For example, friends who graduated earlier and bought cars. During gathering sessions, they talked about this or that person driving this or that car. Or how much they earned each month.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: They rarely talk about self-cultivation.
Keith: Or about your improvement at work or whether you gain more knowledge.
Bot: It is not about knowledge or cultivation. Five or ten years after your graduation, you guys no longer focus on material stuff. Right now, they rarely talk about income or what type of cars you are driving.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: We care more about whether we can meet up again. Or some friends who don’t attend meet-up and reply WhatsApp messages. We care for each other more.
Keith: Because…
Bot: It is lucky. I don’t want the next generation or some friends are still talking about class problem. It is better if you don’t talk about class.
Keith: It is as if floating cloud; it fades away in the blink of an eye.
Bot: It is more than floating cloud. When I go for a trip in a special place, I update my Facebook page.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: For some friends, such as you, you dislike posting on Facebook.
Keith: Let me clarify this. Facebook is a place of disputes. Stay away from it, the further the better.
Bot: Why it is a place of disputes?
Keith: Many talk about politics on the platform. This and that are not right. So how about you running the government of the day? There are such people. So I would rather stay away from such comments. I don’t want to see anything.
Bot: Okay. There are many fake news on Facebook.
Keith: It is not about fake news. It is that many people commented too much.
Bot: Some of their comments are irritating though, such as political news. You read the titles and felt angry, and you shared it. Among the lines of comments…
Keith: It wasn’t that case.
Bot: It wasn’t that case and a friend reminded you to read the content. It seemed to be talking about something else.
Keith: As if you had been set up.
Bot: Yup.
Keith: So, what is the point? I would rather avoid seeing it once and for all.
Bot: And people say exaggerating things nowadays. Solemn and serious contents attract less viewers.
Keith: It is more difficult.
Bot: More difficult.
Keith: Difficult now.
Bot: Let me check how long the live show is by now. Only ten minutes by now?
Keith: More than 30 minutes by now.
Bot: 37 minutes.
Keith: More than 30 minutes.
Bot: The connection is really problematic. I see nothing here. But it doesn’t matter, our title might be boring today. But this…
Keith: Topic.
Bot: This topic allows me to recall our college and university years.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: It was quite happy. That happiness was not built on money.
Keith: Built on money and you will never have an end.
Bot: Yup. I don’t disagree that some people are good at making money and their dream is to make more money. They are able to help many people. When we work, we met with some clients.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: For example, several tycoons in Malaysia are able to support thousands or tens of thousand of families. They depend on them for a livelihood.
Keith: That’s right.
Bot: For poor people or ordinary people like us, we should not shut out sales people who work hard to make money.
Keith: I won’t do that.
Bot: I have a friend who previously worked on music and advertising. He decided to take up a full-time sales job. It is a direct-selling job.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: From our conversation, he has an upright attitude to make money.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: Not that those who pursue money are irritating. I wonder how you think.
Keith: I don’t think it that way.
Bot: Most of the time, we used to shut them out. We might find these salespersons to be irritating. We might need a change of way of thinking. I wonder our listeners share the same idea. I met with some direct-selling people, not all of them though. Some of them are irritating.
Keith: Don’t talk about that. It harms your relations with others.
Bot: Some friends lost contact for years. They gave you a ring out of the blue. “Hey, how are you?”
Keith: Where are you making money now? You are doing well lately. Remember to take care of me.
Bot: They had some pleasantries and started selling their stuff. I don’t mind it, if you send me a message about your products. It is better than I was being kept in the dark. I felt happy to have a cup of tea with you…
Keith: You thought of meeting with an old friend.
Bot: You thought it was a gathering but that person was selling something.
Keith: That was embarrassing.
Bot: Particularly so, when pretty girl-friends invited me. I thought it was a happy moment when a pretty girl invited us for a cup of tea. But they were selling something during the meet-up.
Keith: I don’t have such problem and trouble though.
Bot: It is just a sharing with you guys. Another thing I want to share is that I received a call this morning. It is Pertubuhan Cengah Rasuah.
Keith: Cegah Rasuah.
Bot: They claimed to be an institute. He wanted to ask something. I could tell he spoke very lousy Malay language.
Keith: That wasn’t a call from an institute. Just hang it up.
Bot: Before I ended the call, I reprimanded him. Even if you want to cheat, please brush up your Malay language.
Keith: I speak better Malay than you do.
Bot: If that is the case, you had better study for a few more years before start deceiving others.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: There are many cheating cases nowadays.
Keith: Let me share a method. When your phone rings, listen to the call. I hang up immediately if that person doesn’t talk. That’s how I handle that.
Bot: They claimed to be a call from police department. And they claimed your name had been misused. Or someone sold drugs using your name or you owed money to someone. Somebody is about to sue you now.
Keith: Hang up the call immediately.
Bot: There are many cases like this.
Keith: Hang up and block the number immediately.
Bot: Some asked you to hold the call so that the headquarters could get back to you. They passed to another line and there was another incoming call.
Keith: But I don’t understand this: why do you hold the call for such a long time? Isn’t it just fine, if you hang up the call?
Bot: Of course, hang up and it is just fine. But for many people, they don’t pay attention to news reports or information on Facebook, they might be cooking at home or when they are careless.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: They would be frightened.
Keith: They are caught off guard.
Bot: Some victims gave out the three-digit code of their ATM cards. Some even cross-checked it. Some victims deposited money so that they could avoid a lawsuit.
Keith: They target the victims’ fear.
Bot: I received such call saying I won an amount of money. They said they were about to transfer the money. They didn’t ask for bank account number.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: They asked for the number on the front part of your ATM card. Cross-check your identification card number. It is all checked and you wait for the money to be deposited. The call was ended and the only hundreds of ringgit was taken away from my bank account.
Keith: There was such case?
Bot: That was the past.
Keith: Did you lodge a police report?
Bot: I didn’t lodge a report. But such cases appeared after that. Which is why bank officials put it up on the ATM machine…
Keith: A notice to warn you to stay away from such scam.
Bot: Alright. It is 43 minutes now. Nobody comments and we thank you all for accompanying us. Some might have just joined us for a short while.
Keith: Uh-huh.
Bot: Thank you so much.
Keith: Let’s see what we can do about the line. Let’s fix it.
Bot: We need to fix the connection so that it doesn’t disconnect. Let me trim the video clip and synchronise the video and audio.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: Thank you for your company.
Keith: Thank you.
Bot: It is more than 40 minutes by now. You may watch it again when you are free. When we upload to YouTube, we will also share a link to the transcript written by Keith.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: You will see our Cantonese talk and English transcript for your English learning as well.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: They can visit your website.
Keith: Yup. It’s a transcript.
Bot: We will share that link. Any ideas for us to improve the programme, please feel free to give us comments.
Keith: Yup.
Bot: We will improve ourselves when our work is not that busy. Alright? Thank you.
Keith: Thank you.
Bot: Thank you.
Keith: That connection was poor. Can you copy that? Or you want to edit.
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