The Woke Salaryman Podcast

A long chat with film director Cheng Chai Hong about the closure of The Projector, the loss of third spaces in Singapore, the homogenisation of experiences, cultural maturity, government intervention and support for the arts, and much more.More about his feature-length movie debut: https://www.instagram.com/wecansavetheworld.movie/Chai Hong's IG: https://www.instagram.com/chchchchaihong/0:00 Trailer6:28 The Projector's closed!14:30 Is the public to blame?19:15 Film makers' need to attract audiences too37:23 What if I just want to be an artist?42:10 Are landlords being too greedy?50:37 Should the government do more?1:03:16 Storytelling as a national resource1:16:25 Big players and the homogenisation of stories1:21:56 Chai Hong's upcoming local feature film

Timestamps:1:59 World events and our reaction9:12 Just stay calm and boring12:23 Recent travels19:19 Thrifting23:01 Japanese quality as a double-edged sword27:08 Anti-aspirational consumption32:19 I'm glad I didn't YOLO in my 20s37:31 Gen Zs have it hard right now

We had a chat with our friend Dan Wong. Dan is a super creative and unique visual storyteller that has somehow managed to carve out a professional career for himself whilst staying true to his wild, uncensored artistic expression.We talk about how he does this, as well as the struggles of young artists today amidst Gen AI and much more.0:00 Intro2:14 Dan Wong, A Good Citizen10:16 Has being edgy hurt business?22:51 Drawing NSFW art for $$$ in uni31:14 Dan and WC's previous work together34:53 Young Singapore artist woes41:00 Studio Ghibli ChatGPT saga49:15 Being a moderate advocate54:23 Why don't TWS just use AI fully?1:05:02 We don't love drawing1:13:20 OutroCheck out Dan's works:A Good Citizen:https://www.agoodcitizenobeys.com/fine-art.htmlA Good Citizen's Insta:https://www.instagram.com/agoodcitizen/Dan Wong's Insta:https://www.instagram.com/danwongzijian/Websitehttps://www.agoodcitizenobeys.com

Our interview with the man who is kicking up a storm in the Singapore real estate industry.Patrick Chee is a serial entrepreneur who is a straight shooter, and we had a great time chatting with him. He speaks forcefully but authentically, and what you see is what you get.We chat about HDB prices, real estate agency in Singapore, serial entrepreneurship, and finding success without a degree.Homeseller SG:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC47OfrxHXc6Fd-PqfAyYfnATIkTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@homesellersgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/homeseller_sg/Website: https://homeseller.sg/Timestamps:0:00 Intro2:18 The industry model vs $19998:05 What ACTUALLY sells a house11:18 Is the 2% model justified?23:45 Homeseller SG's philosophy on real estate agency33:18 High agent fees doesn't = better price35:04 Homeseller's business model and ops44:18 Is Homeseller truly motivated to sell if their fees are lower?53:25 The case for a higher fee model56:37 "Difficult" units CAN be sold, but...1:02:47 HDBs are still DIRT CHEAP1:09:38 Patrick's thoughts on Sell 1 Buy 21:15:58 Patrick's entrepreneurial adventure1:23:55 Advice for new real estate agents

Hello, this is another tea time video where we talk about something for fun. This week, we talk about why we struggle with our respective side-hustles/passion projects. Hope y'all enjoy. Let us know if you similarly find it hard to start on these things, and if you have any tips for sparking these sessions yourself. 0:00 Intro 3:25 The topic 8:50 It's hard to do things without external motivation 15:00 Other productive things as an excuse/distraction to not do the creative project 19:25 Taste grows faster than skill, which sucks 25:37 What if your creative project is not monetizable? 34:25 It can feel nice to be productive 39:31 Doing your passion project full-time is an extraordinary outcome 44:40 What if your work is never acknowledged? 49:01 Creating as a way of being 53:04 Summary, and creative resolutions for 2025 1:03:33 Conclusion

We recorded this chat when we visited Ruiming's house in Japan. Hope y'all enjoy. 0:00 Intro 1:20 Why are we here? 2:28 Why did RM get a house in rural Japan? 7:28 How do we like rural Japan? 12:18 The rural Japan dream 21:28 City vs village spirit 29:04 The Singapore obsession with Japan 32:21 What Singapore can learn from Japan CREDITS: Check out Ryunohara experiences: https://www.ryunohara.com/ Music by Kevin McLeod/incompetech Sound effects by otologic.jp

Hi everyone, this is a casual chat we had over tea time. We hope you will enjoy chilling with us. We talk about fresh grads feeling lost and depressed after experiencing work for the first time and discuss whether work is "supposed to suck". Then we meander all over the place. Chapters so you can decide if the meandering will be worth your time: 0:00 Which came first? Mew or Mewtwo 6:16 Young people disliking first job 15:25 Why do we become more conservative with age 21:30 Socialising with people who disagree with you 27:00 COVID was a weird time and set weird expectations 29:32 Fresh grads expecting WFH as a norm 34:03 Business and management experience will change your perspective

*THIS PODCAST EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY UOB* We sit down with Bernard Tay from Jinjja Chicken and Paul Kan from UOB to talk about the challenges facing SMEs and FnBs post-COVID. Specifically, about inflation, digitalization, and overseas expansion! The insights discussed in this video can be found in greatest detail in the UOB Business Outlook Study 2024, which you can check out here: https://go.uob.com/3TT7si8 0:00 Intro 2:48 Life after COVID, not all smooth sailing 4:21 Inflation! 7:03 Hiring Singaporeans for F&B 11:07 Digitalisation for SMEs! 18:52 Difficulties in digitalisation 22:25 Costs of NOT digitalising 26:44 Overseas expansion! 28:54 Unique challenges of Southeast Asia 35:00 Advice for SME operators

We've been away for a while travelling Southeast Asia promoting our books. 0:00 Intro 3:36 Traffic in Jakarta, KL VS Singapore 8:45 City planning is tough 15:13 Vietnam's growth since the 80s 17:43 Would we migrate somewhere else in SEA? 20:14 Retirement village business overseas? 26:05 Book recommendation: Public subsidy, private accumulation 29:33 Book recommendation: Blue Period 31:55 OUR BOOK More on our book and where to get it: https://readtws.com/book

We talk about the trade-offs for the creative soul who wants to run a creative business. 0:00 Intro 0:50 More about our business and me 1:36 Creative VS Business owner 4:15 Delegate to people who like it more, or are better than you 6:42 Consider input, not just output 10:10 Being creative is good for business 11:36 Take creative risks as a part of business 13:21 Unproductivity is part of productivity 16:25 Mistakes are part of the plan 17:47 Give yourself due credit