The Ezra Zaid Project Ezra Zaid

After quitting her job as a management consultant, Alina signed up for a teaching fellowship that would change the course of her life. As a teacher and educator, she is one of the co-founders of Arus Academy: a social enterprise that focuses on imparting skills to create physical and digital solutions to existing problems.

BioAlina Amir is one of the four co-founders at Arus Academy. She helps with strategy and business development to ensure the long term sustainability of Arus. Alina graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was also an analyst at Accenture before teaching History as a Teach For Malaysia Fellow for four years in a public school.
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When a trio of ex-colleagues haven't caught up in a while, all bets are off! They explore the big questions: are aliens among us? UFOs are just a matter of fact now? What about cryptocurrency? And how would you sort out the climate crisis? Ezra catches up with old radio comrades Khoo Hsu Chuang and Julian Ng on a new segment: Cincai² Bocai.

When Madam Kim falls into a depression following her divorce, her young son Kee Whay wanted to become a doctor. His wish: to mend her broken heart. But as his own struggles with schizophrenia begin to emerge, their shared existence forces them to confront their relationship and what they mean to each other.

When Hidayah Hisham was nine, she was unable to make sense of her Dad’s disappearance. 17 years later, she confronts her own past when she films the story of Siti — a daughter fighting for her father’s freedom — in her documentary Ayahku, Dr. G.

Financial writer Aaron Tang, explains why we never seem to have enough time - and why your time, and not wealth, is your most precious resource. If you’re someone who has money (and less time), Aaron reveals the formula of how to live a more meaningful life. Also, how do we rewire our lives to stay regret-free? Learn how you could ultimately make more money, and waste less time in the long-run, putting it aside for the things in life that make us happiest.

Bio

Aaron Tang has worked in the oil and gas industry for 9 years, under the national oil company Petronas, and multinational oil company Weatherford. He now works as the country manager of Luno, an international cryptocurrency exchange, and also Malaysia’s largest cryptocurrency exchange market. 

Due to his interest in cryptocurrency and bitcoin, he began writing about financial matters in his blog Mr-stingy, which has now become one of Malaysia’s top finance blogs. He has also contributed to multiple other finance-related websites, both locally and internationally, such as SAYS, iMoney, The Huffington Post, and The Good Men Project.

Aaron Tang (Mr-stingy): Blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

Episode Structure 


00:00 - Would Warren Buffet give up his wealth for more time? 
01:56 - Time, Money, or Love? Aaron's article, explained
06:15 - Seeing your life in the number of weeks left: the 'memento mori'
12:50 - 'How many hours do I have to work to buy that RM 100 item?' 
20:52 - 'Hope' is not a very good strategy to reach your aspirations
23:30 - Aaron's early memories about money
25:20 - Getting better with money: Small Steps
30:10 - Relying on Money Advice figureheads can't solve all your problems
32:37 - Aaron's experience living paycheck to paycheck - and how he got out of it
39:51 - How can the 'love variable' improve your life? 
45:02 - 'If you don't have ... then you are a failure' 
47:45 - Aaron's starter-kit on changing your life's current direction
54:30 - DISCLAIMER: these things might not apply to everyone
56:24 - It's never to early or late to turn things around 
59:30 - Outro and credits

Links

https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/life-weeks.html - The article where the concept of the ‘memento mori’ was derived from. 

https://www.mr-stingy.com/time-money-love-most-important/ - Aaron Tang, or Mr-stingy’s article about time, money and love that this interview is based on. 

Terms 

'Dua Kerja' -- A malay phrase for 'working two jobs' or 'working a part-time job alongside one's main occupation. 

Tithe -- A portion of one's earning, normally 10% of one's earnings, that was formally taken as tax for the support of the Church and clergy.

Zakat -- an Islamic finance term referring to the obligation that an individual has to donate a certain proportion of wealth each year to charitable causes.

‘Sikit sikit, lama lama jadi bukit’ -- A malay idiom that describes how a little goes a long way - the rough translation in English is, ‘Little by little, over a long period of time, something will turn from a molehill into a mountain’. 

'YOLO’ -- an acronym standing for 'You Only Live Once', used to express the view that one should make the most of the present moment without worrying about the future.

EPF -- Employees' Provident Fund (EPF; Malay: Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja, KWSP), a federal statutory body under the purview of the Ministry of Finance. It manages the compulsory savings plan and retirement planning for private sector workers in Malaysia.

'Skim Cepat Kaya' -- A 'Get Rich Quick' scheme, a plan that typically offers a high or unrealistic rates of return for a small amount of investment and at the same time promises that the investment is simple and free from any risk. 

'Syok sendiri' -- Malay slang to describe being full of oneself

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Determined to transform his relationship with money, Ezra begins the conversation about personal finance. With Julian Ng, co-founder of robo-advisor Akru, they discuss how much money is enough for you to have a life you love, now and in the future? What conscious choices can you make to improve your station in life? Also, the merits of passive investing.