PODCAST · business
The Decode Diary
by Ray Low
The Decode Diary isn't just a podcast; it's your passport to the untold stories of the average-looking but extraordinary Joes who try their best to make it in life. I first stumbled upon the idea of providing insights and perception of the general public when I had so much to talk about but also had so much to learn from those around me. The Decode Diary is a journey and process to decode and decrypt the everyday actions of these people with whom we can relate so much. If you are interested in learning their behavior and actions, this is for you. Welcome onboard.
Episodes
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[FULL] Ep 2: A Day In The Life of a Makeup Artist based in Singapore - Janine
I never had the chance to speak to a makeup artist, let alone the chance to know what a day in the life of a makeup artist is like. It seems there is a lot more than I expect, from having to wash and dry a HUNDRED over brushes in a night to being treated unfairly despite being a junior in the...
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[FULL] 2024 Recap | Learning About Misogyny, Cancer, Starting A Business, Property Investments And More!
41 conversations in a year! I want to do this again, but my gut tells me to have more in-depth conversations to maximize my learning out of each story. Let me know what story you wish I would tell or make! "Resisting judgements" is a line I came up with that I think fits The Decode Diary very…
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[FULL] Farah: “I Cry A Lot Because It Is Really Exhausting”, Handling More Than 10 Patients All At Once As A Surgical Nurse, Offering Kindness To Total Strangers
As far as I can remember, I have never spoken to a nurse before, of course excluding the times I woke up in the middle of the night to get my blood drawn when I was at the hospital. But I didn’t speak to the nurses either, it wasn’t a conversation. In this episode, I sat down with Farah to learn...
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[FULL] Jia Yie: “Simple Giving, Simple Love, Simple Life, Love Life, Love Nature”, How She Runs A Sustainable GreenLife Project Founded By TuMa
This is my first time recording the episode very, very close to nature. As a nature lover and a scout during my high school days, camping is one of the most common activities we would do and being outdoors just makes sense to me. But not to many kids and parents. GreenLife Project is a green...
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[FULL] Jing Wen: "Sugar Does Not Feed Cancer Cells", The Sweet Debate Of What To Eat When You Are Diagnosed With Cancer
As someone who has family members diagnosed with cancer, I am deeply concerned about this topic. For whatever reason, the idea of sticking to a healthy diet, having a fixed sleep routine and working out to keep my joints and muscles active have appealed largely in the past year for me. 10 months...
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[FULL] Mei Xin: “Only 9% Of Plastic Is Recycled In Malaysia”, On Phasing Out Single-Use Plastics By Renting Out Reusable Foodware Plastics From OPack
When I first heard of this new startup which has only been around for 8 months since the start of 2024, I had a lot of skepticism. Particularly, the way it solves the plastic problem because it actually introduces more plastic into the ecosystem. Sure, they could have introduced another material...
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[FULL] Xin Hui: “It’s The Entire Concept And Package For Your Brand”, What Goes On Behind An Online Bakery Business And Keeping Up With The Trend
I’ve known Xin Hui since young and witnessing this journey of her life is just heartwarming. It takes not only courage but also strategic thinking, commitment and the undying fire in her to start Tiny Pockets, an online bakery business during the Covid period. Many would have said it was easy to...
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[FULL] Zul: “These Bajau People Are Not What People Portray Them To Be!”, Volunteering To Help Out These Bajau People In Semporna Malaysia
The story that you are going to hear is a story that reminded me of how lucky I am today in terms of what I have and what I do. That is a luxury some of these Bajau people will never get to enjoy because of the environment they grow up in. But Zul vows to help lift them out of poverty and provide...
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[FULL] Stephen: “Build Things People Ask For, Don’t Build Things People Don’t Need”, How He Started His Startup Called FireJet, A Solution By Developers For Developers
Listening to Stephen’s journey of starting his business helped me gain a tremendous amount of insight into a founder’s mind as we all try to grasp what actually goes on in one. The startup founders we know from the Silicon Valley may be raking in millions of dollars while delivering superb value…
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[FULL] Isya: “How You Do One Thing Is How You Do Everything”, Make Sure You Have Contracts To Protect Yourself When Starting A Business!
I, for one, couldn’t stand the idea of listening to just one side of the story when Sha came onto the show and talked about her entrepreneurial journey with Isya. I had to get Isya on. Just like I thought, their stories are aligned! One would be extra motivated listening to both their stories of...
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[FULL] Daren: "The Number One Reason Anyone Should Buy A Tesla Is Safety", From A Googler To A YouTuber Who Reviews Cars
I first met Daren at Google Singapore back in 2019 and he was already a great storyteller. Never would I have imagined that he would become a creator on the sister company of Google, YouTube and I was one of the early audiences watching his videos for investment advice and car reviews. Not that I...
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[FULL] Ashvin: “Some Rules Are Not Meant To Be Followed”, He Switched Schools A Lot When He Was Younger, And Went On To Run A Great Business
When we first met, Ashvin was telling me about his recent trip to Alaska on a cruise. Little did I know he runs a bar business and more shockingly, he was kicked out of school multiple times when he was younger. The days of being in school for him were more for entertainment. To him, some rules…
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[FULL] Noel: “They Know Deep Down They Were Once A Small Kid”, Follow This Strength Training Program To Get Bigger!
The more I dive into how other people keep to a fitness routine, the more interesting insights I uncover. A simple conversation with Noel revealed how I am lacking a proper program for essential strength training that will actually help me get bigger. As simple as a 4-week program, it includes a...
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Snippet: MyFindiet And Their Healthy Diet Program
Shen Yi and Ameerul are both brilliant dieticians who clearly know what they are doing. If there is one thing that I learnt from them, it is that healthy means differently to everyone. However, outside of that definition, they are strict that one should consume food with the right portion. I'm…
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Snippet: The Unbelievable Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
Aside from keto diet, many women practice intermittent fasting because they want to get into the "best" shape of their body. To fully grasp the idea of intermittent fasting, it does not mean we can eat anything or everything when it comes time to feast. The 16-8 fasting framework is still one of...
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Snippet: Keto Diet Is Actually Designed For Children With Epilepsy
Did you know ketogenic diets were originally designed mainly for children with epilepsy? Keto diets are also now for people with diabetes and heart diseases but not for people having problems with their pancreas, liver or thyroid. I've heard many around me practicing keto diet not fully grasping...
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[FULL] Shen Yi & Ameerul: “Dieting Means Tracking Your Food Intake”, The Benefits Of A Keto Diet, Intermittent Fasting And Special Foods For Diabetic Patients
Our diet these days seems to rely on whether we have time in our busy daily schedule for a proper meal plan. Cheap food and quick service restaurants make it almost impossible for us to follow a strict and healthy diet. With family members having health issues, I can’t help but want to understand...
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Snippet: The Story Of Kudalari Apartment And How You Can Find Out The Median Price In An Area
After touring a few of the properties in KL, we sat down in a cafe and Ganesha told me to look up this apartment called Kudalari Apartment. Full of curiosity, I typed in the name and hit enter. On the map, this apartment sits right smack in the middle of KL, right next to KLCC, the iconic twin...
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Snippet: This Is A Non-Investable Property You Shouldn't Invest In
Ganesha was supposed to take me to a property he think is non-investable. For many reasons, that property is a bad purchase if one is aiming to invest for profit. Long story short, we didn't make it to the property. But we have Ganesha on the podcast to tell us what it means to invest in a...
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[FULL] Ganesha (Part 3): "Buy Below Median Prices", On Diesel Price Hike And More Expensive Homes, The Border Between Tier 1 And Tier 2 Areas in KL
When Ganesha first told me about the different tier areas in Kuala Lumpur, a city so close to me and a city I grew up in, I wanted to know what the different tier areas mean. Trust me, you have to see it for yourself because if you are in the market for a new home or a rental property, this is…
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Snippet: The Fallout Of The Onion Aunties Podcast
It is not entrepreneurship if there isn't any hardship along the journey. For Sha, a podcast hosted by three ladies quickly brewed into something they never would have expected. But Sha kind of saw it coming. She knew the importance of having contracts between the three of them in order to…
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Snippet: How Say What SG Was Born
When the wave of podcasting hit Singapore shores, Sha was totally not adamant about the idea of riding it. Her relentless entrepreneurial spirit helped her brave through the ups and downs of the businesses and she knew pivoting was essential at one point. Say What SG is a podcast based in…
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Snippet: Going Through Adversity With Her Business Partner
One thing I learnt from this conversation is that our friends may not be the best business partners, but business partners can turn out to be the best friends in our lives. Sha and her business partner made this sound simple when her business partner decided to step in and hold the fort for her...
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[FULL] Sha: “Contracts In Business Saved Our Lives”, Her Entrepreneurial Journey In Say What SG And The Story Of How Contracts Are Important In Businesses
If there is one thing I learnt from Sha about starting a business, it is to start it properly with legal contracts. The contracts are there to protect us during tough times. It was a conversation I needed to really get The Decode Diary up to speed and a legal business. This conversation came in…
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Snippet: The Real Reason He Quit Singapore Airlines
For Prateep, staying in an industry for 6-7 years is a long time and if he didn't make the jump to quit, he would stay in the same role in the same company forever. I think this speaks for most working class. But there has to be a push factor for him to throw in the letter. Or a pull factor. I...
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Snippet: Dealing With Karen Passengers And Karen Colleagues
I took the opportunity to ask Prateep if he has dealt with difficult passengers because we all know it, there have to be Karen passengers somewhere on planet Earth. Surprisingly, he gave an unexpected answer. The answer was that it is more difficult to deal with colleagues and other flight...
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Snippet: Going On Social Media For Flight Attendants Is A Strict No!
Posting on social media, for flight crew, requires permission from their higher-ups. Understandably, this is to protect the image and reputation of the company. For a lot of the flight attendants, their previous lifestyle of posting beautiful photos of them shift once they start their job. It was...
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[FULL] Prateep: “Colleagues Are Harder To Deal With”, He Quit His Job As A Flight Attendant For Singapore Airlines!
For many, working in the airline industry is a dream job, specifically as part of the flight crew for obvious reasons. For Prateep, however, the perks and benefits are nice-to-haves, but not the reason he would stay for. While the company is not the main reason, he saw it that he would not be in...
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Snippet: Can We Handle Trauma With Mindfulness?
I sat down with Johnny to understand if we are able to cope with traumas using mindfulness. For so long, my view on mindfulness is that it helps us detach from emotions, but more often than not, most of us are humans and cannot skip away emotions. We will feel it some day or sooner. Johnny was…
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Snippet: What Our Surroundings Tell Us About Our Inner Minds
It is ultimately how we perceive the matters around us that shapes us who we are. Depending on our mindset, an ordeal can turn into an experience that teaches you grit and persistence. On a smaller scale, if we view minor events as unforgivably serious occasions, we are likely to always feel...
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Snippet: Habituation Of Our Minds Is The Root Cause Of Numbness!
The special thing about our minds is that it tends to habituate. It is the act of our minds to make or become used to something. It does not take more to understand why. It simply happens because our body tries to resist pain. We tend to stay in our "comfort zone". Speaking to Johnny about...
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[FULL] Johnny: “Your Inner World Reflects The External World”, Why We Feel Numb At Work And The Act Of Mindfulness
If you are the type of person who feels numb to a lot of life’s interesting chapters, you probably should listen to this. Johnny came on to the show several episodes ago and the topic of mindfulness was so interesting that I invited him for a second time to talk to us about emotions, especially…
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Snippet: Cancer Patients Are Not Strong!
To Giri, cancer patients are not that strong after all. "Half the time we don't know what is going on!" was what he said and I think it is true. But I think the strength to live on treatment after treatment still needs to be there because the pain after each treatment can be unbearable. Listen to...
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Snippet: How He Braved Through The 7-Week Cancer Treatment
It was a 7-week cancer treatment involving chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Listening to his experience revealed to me the courage one has to have to go through the treatment. Radiotherapy had him at his worst. The 7-week period, I believe, made him a totally different person. From a lump on the…
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Snippet: The Moment He Was Diagnosed With Cancer
What are the odds of your university senior finding out you have cancer? That was exactly what happened to Giri when he was helping his seniors with their exams. It was odd listening to this part because I started to feel my body for lumps but thankfully, no. Listen with me to how Giri found out…
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[FULL] Giri: "One Day At A Time For 7 Weeks", Nasopharyngeal Cancer Survivor Speaks About His Experience And Recovery Journey
It has been 9 years since Giri was diagnosed of nasopharyngeal cancer. To him and everyone around him, it was the worst experience one could ever go through. There were no symptoms when he was diagnosed with it, but starting the treatments meant he had to endure all the pain that came with them....
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Snippet: Career Progression As A Flight Attendant
We all know flight attendants get to travel the world getting paid. It is like a dream job for many people, especially young people these days. But what about the actual career advancements? Do they actually level up in their ranks? If so, what more do they do? We explore the career progression…
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Snippet: Maintaining Existing Relationships Vs Making New Friends
Because they fly so frequently and are always out and about, I would presume that they can make friends easily. And they are adept at maintaining relationships too. It turns out that they are probably the people who would lose the most number of friends if I had to count. For some, being a "low...
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Snippet: The Toughest Thing About Flying So Frequently As A Flight Attendant
Their spouses and family could be sleeping while they are working through the night serving passengers onboard a flight. This is one of the many things a flight attendant has to deal with in their job. But is this the toughest one? In this snippet, we explore together with Belinda, who is a…
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[FULL] Belinda: “People Think We Are There To Look Pretty Like A Dumb Blonde”, The Life Of A Flight Attendant & How She Manages Her Relationships And Health While Flying
For many, the dream of flying around the world to see beautiful places and people is worth the constant overtime at a 9-5 job. But for Belinda, it is her job to fly almost every single day. How does it work out for her if it means she needs to sacrifice on sleep and many more? What about...
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Snippet: Why She Started Giving Her Own Workshop And Her Plans On Coaching
After her career started, she felt she needed to do more. For the money, of course. But also to share and teach while learning. According to her, we resonate on the notion that we learn best when we teach. Belle seems to be confident she will continue to work towards giving her own workshop...
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Snippet: The Economics Of The Oil And Gas Industry As She Knows It
When I first heard about her job as a reservoir engineer, I didn't think it was something to do with the oil and gas industry. I thought it was closely related to reservoirs and waste water management. As if I didn't know enough about the field, she shared with me how on a high level overview the...
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Snippet: Chemical Engineering Degree And Her Problem Solving Skills
When asked about her role in her field, her eyes lit up and that is when you know someone is purely interested in what they are doing. Or maybe they are good actors, except I don't think Belle was acting up. From this conversation alone, I got to know the different streams in the oil and gas...
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[FULL] Belle: “Engineering Makes Things Simpler And Cost-Effective”, And Graduating Into Being A Reservoir Engineer
When I saw Belle’s graduation on her Instagram story, I reached out to her to know her story. Despite being a fresh graduate, she is very well-versed in her field of chemical engineering. To be more exact, she is a reservoir engineer. If you are like me wondering what a reservoir engineer does,...
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Snippet: How To Be Self-Compassion And Self-Critical At The Gym
I haven't really hit the peak of what a good body looks like, but with my workout routine, I always think there's something not done correctly. Not enough reps, not enough sets and not enough weights. There's always something that is not enough and I can only take the blame myself for still being...
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Snippet: How The Gym Culture Has Evolved Over The Years
Although hitting the gym has been a trend for many years, for many reasons, I want to talk about this because I want to find out why people are taking to social media to show a picture of their biceps when things like this wouldn't have happened 50 years ago. Maybe social media played a part…
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[FULL] Joshua: “Always Have Patience For Results, But Impatience For Actions”, Gym Personal Trainer Breaks Down My Workout Routine And Discusses Gym Cultures
I have only recently started going to the gym because for my whole life, I have stuck to a home workout routine. Probably because it is cheap and you get to be the sole user of all the equipment. The sad truth is there are not a lot of options, be it equipment or exercises. The way to get serious...
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Snippet: How She Moved On From The Breakup
I don't know how, and I don't want to know how. But Jennefer did it in an elegant way. She chose the way many wouldn't and I'm not saying this should be the only approach, but I hope anyone who has to go through a heartbreak chooses to forgive and let go. Cry a little, be sad a little, go through...
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Snippet: Her Breakup Story
I don't think anyone should condone the act of betrayal in any relationship. Jennefer talked to me how she found out about the affair her ex-boyfriend had with her friend. When I was listening, I couldn't understand what the boy was thinking. But it didn't matter. What matter was that Jennefer…
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Snippet: Dating On Tinder, Red Flags And Criteria
I have always wondered what people do on dating apps like Tinder. I mean, it is a chatting app where you get to know people and talk to them based on primarily their looks. I am lucky to have Jennefer on the show to describe how she dates on Tinder. Fun fact: I went on to the app to try it for...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Decode Diary isn't just a podcast; it's your passport to the untold stories of the average-looking but extraordinary Joes who try their best to make it in life. I first stumbled upon the idea of providing insights and perception of the general public when I had so much to talk about but also had so much to learn from those around me. The Decode Diary is a journey and process to decode and decrypt the everyday actions of these people with whom we can relate so much. If you are interested in learning their behavior and actions, this is for you. Welcome onboard.
HOSTED BY
Ray Low
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Decode Diary have?
The Decode Diary currently has 135 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Decode Diary about?
The Decode Diary isn't just a podcast; it's your passport to the untold stories of the average-looking but extraordinary Joes who try their best to make it in life. I first stumbled upon the idea of providing insights and perception of the general public when I had so much to talk about but also...
How often does The Decode Diary release new episodes?
The Decode Diary publishes regularly with 135 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Decode Diary?
You can listen to The Decode Diary on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Decode Diary?
The Decode Diary is created and hosted by Ray Low.
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