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FINTECH and the future of financial stability

By
The Independent
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0

The current world economy is heading into a possible recession given the uncertainty of the United States-China trade dispute, Brexit, volatile Middle East region and global oil prices fluctuations. While on the other hand, the financial industry is blooming with digitalization and high-tech innovation to create a better consumer experience as a result of the 2008 financial crisis.

The term Fintech stands for financial technology; indicating an upgrade of traditional financial products with new and disruptive technology. Due to this revolution, according to BNM’s annual report, non-banks are also making headway in this segment. Payment space has always been a common starting point for non-banks to embark on financial services, with an aim to evolve into digital banks.

Years after the 2008 crisis, Banks resisted change and maintained traditional approach as they have monopolised the financial services for so long, with little to no competition, thereby allowing them to charge high commissions, and often obscure or hidden fees, such as inflated foreign exchange rate spreads or letter of credit costs to satisfy their profit-oriented objective.

Fintech providers have seen this and offer an alternative, often with cheaper rates and transparent pricing.

For this reason, banks are now playing catch-up with Fintech in terms of technology, customers and pricing. Fintechs are setting the benchmark high. This is one reason why banks across Europe keep closing high street branches. People are simply not banking in person anymore, especially generations X and Y, and banks have so far been unable to engage customers online whereas Fintechs have, as their strength lies in online interaction.

Based on a study done by KANTOX, the main reasons which led to the development of Fintech are

  • Anger at the established banking system and the main entities that it consists of.
  • Widespread lack of trust with banks post-crisis.
  • After the crisis, banks stopped lending; businesses had to contend with refusals on lines of credits or bank loans and individuals were turned down mortgages and personal loans.

It is only a matter of time before we see Fintech pervasively change finance in the same way the Internet changed the music and newspaper industries. Furthermore, Fintechs have the technological edge over banks, and as technology develops, we will see more pioneering solutions offered uniquely by Fintechs undermining further the functions of traditional banking eg. Alibaba extending loans from its ability to generate cash. It is interesting to note the determination of Bitcoins “to compete with and ultimately dismantle the institutions that had brought about the crisis”.

The dynamic and fast-paced digital market is difficult to control. It is important for supervisory authorities to come up with solutions to safeguard this borderless business as the risk of fraud, money laundering and tax evasion is high in this industry. Although it was mentioned in the BNM Central Bank Digital Currency: A Monetary Policy Perspective, September 2017, that

“It is quite unlikely that cryptocurrencies would replace cash transactions any time soon. Pioneering work reviewed generally concludes that CBDC, even if introduced in the future, would likely be a complement rather than a substitute to cash and bank deposits.”

Traditional weaknesses and greed in the current banking industry push further the growth of Fintech.  It is suggested that in order to impose restrictions; it is important for authorities to understand the push and pull factors that lead to the growth of Fintech.  Framework and policies should be designed to encourage competition in the financial industry, protect the interest of the consumer or the weaker party and encourage the better distribution of wealth as a socio-economic agenda.

Weak monitoring and understanding of macroeconomic impacts from Fintech may lead to the next financial crisis as more reliance being placed on AI and statistical-based decisions.   Monitoring authorities need to develop next-generation competencies to monitor and understand the wider macroeconomic impact of Fintech to avoid the next financial disaster.

We know that Fintech is here to stay and is necessary as a natural evolution to financial systems as the world becomes more digital.  As the global population grows and traditional jobs disappear, technological and ideological breakthroughs are required to avoid a global meltdown. We must not forget that economic growth is supported by real consumption by real consumers.

It is important to note that the ability to generate regular and sustainable income for the masses to grow a larger consumption base is the next step in Fintech’s evolution, a real possibility of the future.

Analysts Sharifah Azzahra and Shahril Azlan

PM Lee to ASEAN: “Intensify integration efforts”

By
Gemma Iso
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0
Photo: You Tube screen grab from the World Economic Forum

Speaking at the 35th ASEAN Summit plenary session in Bangkok, Thailand, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pointed out the necessity for Southeast Asian countries to intensify all initiatives towards integration in order to uphold a “free, open and rules-based” multilateral trading system amidst volatile global scenarios.

This he underscored before a gathering of all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“Each ASEAN member state has our own domestic preoccupations. But this global backdrop has made it more urgent than ever for ASEAN to come together, to deepen cooperation among ourselves, in order to counter these unfavourable external trends, and to speak on issues that concern us with one voice,” said the prime minister.

Having internally formed the ASEAN Community in 2015, member countries need to take the next step to fully implement the ASEAN Economic Blueprint 2025, and complete the “unfinished agenda”, said Mr Lee.

PM Lee likewise added that ASEAN needs to extend and broaden its economic links with partners and further “liberalise” trade with them.

“A major outstanding initiative is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP),” said Mr Lee. “I am happy that RCEP negotiations have made significant progress, and look forward to discussing how we can complete them at the 3rd RCEP Summit on Monday.”

The trade deal involves the 10 ASEAN countries and its six trading partners – China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Simultaneously, ASEAN needs to continue exploring new areas for economic cooperation, added Mr Lee and one channel is the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN), he pointed out.

An initiative spearheaded by Singapore, the network is envisioned as a collaborative platform where up to three cities per ASEAN country work towards a common goal of smart and sustainable urban development.

Cities include Singapore, Johor Bahru, Phuket, Yangon, Phnom Penh and Vientiane.

“The ASCN will enhance ASEAN’s proposition as a single digital market and generate new growth for our countries,” said Mr Lee.

“I am pleased that the ASCN has gained momentum since its launch last year during Singapore’s chairmanship. And I am happy that Thailand has hosted two ASCN meetings this year.

“As the ASCN shepherd, Singapore will work with member states to develop the network further, including of course with the next chairman, Vietnam.”

When it comes to the environment, Singapore also “firmly supports” multilateral solutions to issues such as climate change and trans-boundary pollution, said Mr Lee.

On its end, Singapore has put together a Climate Action Package, which offers capacity building courses in areas such as climate science and disaster risk mitigation, convened the second ASEAN Climate Change Partnership Conference, and hosted a meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Mr Lee highlighted.

To combat transboundary pollution, Singapore will also cooperate with fellow ASEAN Member States.

“Another recurring transboundary challenge, as we were reminded recently, is haze pollution,” said Mr Lee.

“We should fully implement the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. Because by pooling our resources, we can deal with this serious problem more effectively.”

But, ASEAN can only make progress on these “economic and environmental priorities” if the region continues to enjoy peace and stability, pointed out Mr Lee.

ASEAN and China

“Singapore is pleased that ASEAN and China have completed the first reading of the Single Draft Negotiating Text of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea,” he added.

As ASEAN and China move forward in negotiating the Code of Conduct, and managing the South China Sea issue, ASEAN should continue to reiterate its “shared principles” with regional partners, Mr Lee said.

These include respect for the freedom of navigation and overflight; self-restraint including non-militarisation; and peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Another issue of concern is the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, said Mr Lee, calling it a “complex problem with both humanitarian and security dimensions”.

“ASEAN should continue to support efforts by all parties, including the Myanmar government, to work towards a comprehensive and durable solution,” added Mr Lee. “Commencement of repatriation on a safe, voluntary, and dignified basis should remain an immediate priority.” -/TISG

How Berlin Wall’s fall sparked joy and upended lives

By
AFP
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0
Berlin Wall's east side gallery remnant of a terrifying past - Wiki Commons

by Yacine LE FORESTIER and Yannick PASQUET

Three citizens of former East Germany recount how they experienced the fall of the Berlin Wall, from the joy of November 9, 1989 when the barriers opened, to the three decades of economic hardship and rebuilding that followed.

Thomas Wendt, 67: ‘The most important moment of my life!’
The Berlin Wall appeared just a few hundred metres away from the house where Thomas Wendt grew up when he was nine years old.

On family walks, his father would visibly “bristle” every time their path was blocked by “this impassable structure”.

When news came that the border crossings were open on November 9, Wendt raced to the nearest one.

“It was crazy” being able to cross into the West “just a few minutes after the border guards first opened the barrier,” he remembers.

Once across, “I was hugging anyone who wanted a hug from me. Total strangers!” he smiles, clearly moved.

“It was the most important moment of my life!”

A former journalist who worked for a weekly that was “frowned upon” by East German authorities, Wendt had imagined the West as “simply a beautiful, smooth world where everything is shiny.”

But the end of socialism quickly threw up difficulties, putting him out of work as the old newspapers closed one by one.

Finally, he found a job in politics, as assistant to a Social Democratic Party (SPD) manager.

Now retired, Wendt sees a mixed picture 30 years after that first step towards reunification.

“Three-quarters of Germans in the east lost their job or had to change career” after the Wall fell, he recalls.

Their “effort is completely underestimated by western Germans… who told us ‘Stop complaining, things aren’t that bad for you’.”

Stefan Newie, 37: ‘Freedom is the most precious possession’
Just seven years old in 1989, Newie’s family “missed the fall of the Wall”, the television technician jokes.

While capital-H History was unfolding on East German streets, “my parents didn’t watch TV that night”.

Only the next day at school did he realise something big had happened.

“The class was half-empty, and the teacher wondered ‘where are all the children?’. One of my classmates replied, ‘they’ve all gone to the West!'”

That same day, he and his parents took their first steps across the frontier.

He mainly remembers “the colours” that set West Berlin apart from the East.

And when they entered a supermarket packed with groceries, “it smelled good inside, the freshly-ground coffee. We weren’t used to those kinds of smells in the state-run shops in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).”

When the family later paid a visit to his great-grandparents in a retirement home in the west, the surprise was overwhelming.

“My father knocked at the door and they didn’t recognise him. They couldn’t imagine that he could be standing on their doorstep,” Newie says.

Now, 30 years later, he sees only benefits to the historic transition.

“Freedom is the most precious possession,” he says.

“I can say what I want, I can travel anywhere in the world and I’m happy not to have spent my entire youth in a dictatorship.”

Helga Dreher, 74: ‘I don’t want to go back!’
At 45 when the Berlin Wall fell, Helga had suffered the bite of division more keenly than most.

The teacher had a daughter with a Frenchman in the 1970s, but the Iron Curtain kept their encounters few and hard to organise.

On the evening of November 9, Helga was watching live as government officials announced the border crossings were open but “I didn’t believe it, I turned the set off.”

The next morning, the father of her child called and said, “you can come to Paris! The Wall has fallen!”

Helga remained distrustful of the government, wondering “if the GDR wouldn’t close the borders behind us once we’d all gone to the West,” she remembers.

Those first encounters on November 10 didn’t all make for good memories.

Knowing that exotic fruits were rare in the GDR, the West Berliners “threw bananas at us,” like monkeys in the zoo. “It was horrible.”

“Me and my daughter went back to East Berlin after half an hour”.

Things quickly got better. Helga went to Paris for New Year’s Eve, and “I was so happy that my daughter could see her father!”

Luckily, she was able to keep her teaching job through the hard times that followed reunification.

Not all were so lucky, and women especially saw their position worsen compared with the years of work supported by state childcare under the GDR.

“Among my friends, many ended up unemployed and only a few were able to find their feet again,” Helga complains.

Nevertheless, “as far as I’m concerned, the changes that have happened have still been for the better. I don’t want to go back to the past!” Helga says.

© Agence France-Presse

Why Singapore’s appointment of a new ambassador to China is significant for both nations

By
Gemma Iso
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0
You Tube screen grab from govSingapore

Lui Tuck Yew, former navy chief turned top bureaucrat, is Singapore’s new ambassador to Beijing. Lui who joined the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in 2000, also served as transport minister from 2011 to 2015.

Singaporean analysts say that the former cabinet minister’s appointment adds significant weight to Singapore’s efforts in showing Beijing that preserving bilateral relations with China is a major priority.

Chong Ja Ian, a National University of Singapore professor who closely tracks Singapore-China ties, said Lui’s stature would be appreciated by a China that was increasingly parsing how its neighbours viewed it.

According to Chong, Lui’s experience would help him navigate a China that was “much readier to take offence at a range of issues” as well as “growing pressure from Chinese nationalism.”
“China now had the economic power to pressure and ‘distract’ the leaders of neighbouring countries, Chong said, making managing ties trickier than before.”
Chong also added that Lui’s experience in government – including as a second minister for foreign affairs and as the second minister for defence – was relevant for several government-to-government projects Singapore had committed to in China.
Another analyst, Benjamin Ho, a research fellow with the China programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said Lui’s naval background put him in good stead as China and Singapore explored a deepening of military ties. “Sino-Singapore relations are also premised on very strong economic cooperation and Lui is expected to further contribute to this area,” Ho said.

Political scientist Bilveer Singh, a frequent commentator on local politics, commented that calling Lui a “failed minister” turned diplomat was unfair.

Lui was just “caught at a time when there were a lot of things going on and he became a convenient punching bag,” Singh said.

“Anything wrong with the MRT, anything wrong with the bus, [people] blamed him. He was a convenient target,” he added.

Bilveer recalled and believed that when Lui’s was Singapore’s ambassador to Japan, he proved his mettle as there had been “no major controversies” between the two countries, adding that the former politician had gained the trust of top leadership in Singapore as well as in Japan and China.

“If he did not do well, he wouldn’t be moved to China. China is our No 1 top diplomatic post,” said Bilveer.

Lui’s exit from politics in 2015 – just before a general election – came on the back of widespread criticism about a decline in the reliability of the country’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network due to a lack of focus on maintenance.

Many Singaporeans pinned blame on Lui, and in announcing his departure, he told The Straits Times newspaper: “In politics, you need a tender heart and a thick skin, not a hard heart and thin skin. I think my heart, my skin, like all my body parts, are fine.” -/TISG

Elderly cardboard collectors struggle to walk up to 30 minutes after their Chinatown collection point shuts down

By
Obbana Rajah
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0
Photo: Happy People Helping People Community

Two elderly ladies who collect and sell cardboard for a living spoke about how much harder their jobs became when a collection point at Chinatown was shut down, causing them to have to walk up to 30 minutes more, pushing their heavy trollies, to another collection point.

In a video where they spoke to members of a non-profit organization Happy People Helping People (HPHP), Mdm Lai Sau Choo and Mdm Lim Ah Lian explained some of the struggles they now face because of the collection point being a lot further and more inconvenient.

Physical struggles

“Sometimes I push my trolley and collect cardboard at the same time. Sometimes my cart falls over and I have to get it back up again”, Mdm Lim explained. She also said that if she walked at a quicker pace, she could reach the new collection point in 20 minutes, but if she was slow and collected cardboard along the way, it would take her 30 minutes to reach the new collection point.

Mdm Lai, who looked to be slightly older than Mdm Lim said, “You can’t just jay-walk you have to look for a traffic-light. It’s a busy cross-junction. No choice. I have to push my trolley slowly”.

She added that, “The previous collection point is nearer and traffic is not as busy. The traffic at the new location is a lot more busy”.

“It’s difficult for old folks to travel too far on foot”, she said.

Photo: Fb/Happy People Helping People Community

More meager earnings

The two women also said that in terms of profitability, “The boss at the new collection point pays (them) less”.

The boss at the previous collection point used to pay the women six cents per kilogram of cardboard. Now at the new collection point however, the women only get paid five cents per kilogram. They also only get 60 cents for every 60 drink cans, but the at the previous location the boss would give them 70 cents per 60 cans.

It may not be much to the common man, but Mdm Lai said, “You really have to load up your trolley just for that ten or 20 cents more, which is really not much”.

The women were partial to their previous boss, who not only collected cardboard and drink cans, he also collected old clothes that they would bring.

“Making the journey here can be dangerous and I would rather not have to do so, so I really wish we can have our previous collection site back”, Mdm Lim said.

Reaching out to the authorities

On behalf of these elderly cardboard collectors, the non-profit Happy People Helping People (HPHP) reached out to Member of Parliament Lily Neo from Kreta Ayer constituency in hopes that she could help in lifting the ban by Town Council on the karung guni lorry operating behind Blk 5 Banda St.

They wrote, “The lorry has been operating at that same location for years; more than 6 years at least, collecting cardboard boxes, cans and other items from our elderly cardboard collectors (65-99 years of age) in that area. It has never been an issue as the lorry uses a parking lot and only operates for 2 hrs daily. The location is also convenient for our elderly cardboard collectors because a majority of them are staying at the rented flats nearby”.

Watch their video here:

TISG has reached out to MP Lily Neo for further comment. /TISG

Avengers:Infinity War’s deleted Captain America scene that went overboard

By
Lydia Koh
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0
Thor was supposed to lose an eye. Picture: Instagram

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the writers for Avengers:Infinity War and Avengers:Endgame shared that there was a deleted scene in Avengers:Infinity War that went overboard – and it involved bloody mashed potatoes.

Photo: Creative Commons

IGN’s David Griffin asked Markus and McFeely if there were any moments in writing Infinity War or Endgame that was deemed “going too far” when they presented it to the producers and Kevin Feige.

“There was one scene, it was in Infinity War, We wrote it, we didn’t shoot it. It was part and parcel of a whole thing where we realised we were picking up the characters too early in their arc before Thanos had gotten to them. It was a scene of basically Widow and Falcon and Cap in hiding post-Civil War and they’d just been through a big fight with criminals, and Cap was eating mashed potatoes, says Markus began.
“You’re bleeding into your mashed potatoes.” He looks at him like…yeah he is bleeding into his mashed potatoes. I remember Kevin [Feige] going “He’s bleeding into his mashed potatoes?! I don’t want to see that!” Yeah, maybe we went a little too…something.” Falcon says
.

There is a list of stories on some of the many scenes cut from both Infinity War and Endgame and these mashed potatoes story is just one of them.

Among others are  “Doctor Strange’s Magical Mystery Tour” and the Living Tribunal, The Birth of Smart Hulk, Captain America and Red Skull teaming up, and Thanos killing the past Avengers.

The Avengers:Infinity War scene earned IGN’s number 5 spot in their ranking of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Infinity Saga.

If you want to see more of Captain America minus the mashed potatoes and Infinity War and Endgame, check out IGN‘s look at if what Captain America did at the end of Endgame was the right thing to do.

Discover 27 awesome callbacks to older MCU films in Endgame, and read IGN’s breakdown of all the deleted scenes that did make it into Avengers: Infinity War.

Selena Gomez is suddenly in the crosshairs of Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian’s feud

By
Lydia Koh
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0
Selena Gomez is best friends with Taylor Swift. Picture: Instagram

It is no secret that Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift have been feuding for years.

Selena Gomez recently uploaded a photo of herself trying on Kim’s new shapewear line, Skims.

Photo: Screengrab from Instagram

When Taylor Swift got angry, Selena deleted the photo and instantly posted a photo praising her BFF, Taylor.

Swifties (fans of Taylor Swift) are upset at Selena Gomez for posting the picture.

Selena Gomez has unknowingly and accidentally thrown herself in the crosshairs of two feuding personalities by complimenting Kim Kardashian on Instagram.

She quickly backtracked when the Swifties came after her.

Kim and Taylor started feuding when the latter felt she was wronged by both Kanye and Kim after Kim released a private phone conversation between Taylor and Kanye.

Kanye also lied to Taylor several times, embarrassing her publicly and it all ended in the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty.

It has been years but no one is over it.

Selena just got her hands on some items from Kim’s new shapewear line, Skims, posting about them on Instagram and saying that they were ‘legit so freaking comfortable.’

Obviously Swifties were not happy about this so they went on Twitter to voice their displeasure.

Upon realisation of the situation, Selena deleted the Instagram story immediately and replaced it with some Taylor propaganda.

She uploaded a selfie with Taylor and the caption read, “My ride of die. I would die for this one.”

Photo: Screengrab from Instagram

“Thank you for forever being by my side,” she continued. “You have taught me so much, walked through all of this with me, STAYED and you remind me to be a better human being. I am on your side for life.”

Sister Scarlett defends Hong Kong actress Jacqueline Wong from hurtful rumours

By
Lydia Koh
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0
Photo: Screengrab from Instagram

Scarlett Wong, sister of Jacqueline Wong is shooting down the latest rumours surrounding the Hong Kong actress.

Even though she can’t really comment much about Jacqueline’s mental state as she is not aware of her sister’s condition, Scarlett is dispelling the rumours.

Malay Mail  quoted Ming Pao as saying that Scarlett denied Jacqueline has changed her career to be a real estate agent.

“You will need to sit for exams first before you can call yourself a real estate agent.

“Tomorrow I will be an agent and I will change my name to Veronica,” Scarlett said sarcastically, denying that Jacqueline had also changed her name to Rachel.

“As long as she is happy and healthy, let her decide on what she wants to do with her life,” added Scarlett.

It is believed that 30-year-old Jacqueline went to the United States after a kissing scandal with actor and singer Andy Hui in April which led to the breakup of her relationship with actor Kenneth Ma.

It is rumoured that Jacqueline is pregnant with Hui’s child.

Malay Mail quoted Oriental Daily as saying Jacqueline was supposedly preparing to register her marriage at Los Angeles and the news is becoming viral.

A previous report in March showed that Jacqueline was spotted vomiting during filming but the star said it was due to fatigue.

Netizens are advised not to speculate over the rumours but to be concern over the condition of Hui’s wife, singer and actress Sammi Cheng.

Photo: Screengrab from Instagram

Even though Sammi was burdened by the news of Andy’s cheating scandal for months, she instead directed all her focus onto her concert production.

Andy had also publicly apologised since and has been working behind the scenes to support his wife.

Despite the jeers and boos from Sammi’s fans, Andy even braved the crowd to attend the first two days of her concert too.

After her 13-concert tour has wrapped up, Sammi told Hong Kong media at her afterparty that she would be taking time off to go on a holiday to recharge.

When asked if she would be travelling with her husband, she waved off the question saying she was heading off “with friends”.

Hong Kong actor Dickey Cheung and his wife, Jess, were also spotted at the same airport on the same day.

Both couples presumably had arranged to travel separately before regrouping in order to not draw attention to themselves, reported Apple Daily.

It is also speculated that the four were headed towards England to meet up with Hong Kong producer Mark Lui and his wife.

As Sammi previously had a history of depression, it might be a huge relief for fans to see her well and on amicable terms with her husband again.

Kim Gun Mo gets married

By
Lydia Koh
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0
Photo: Screengrab from Instagram

Kim Gun Mo is tying the knot!

Insiders reported on Oct 30, that Kim Gun Mo is engaged to a pianist in her late 30s and was a student at the Berklee College of Music.

The couple met through an acquaintance last year and after a year of dating; they decided to get hitched.

Speaking on behalf of Kim Gun Mo, a rep from his agency said, “Kim Gun Mo is getting married to his non-celebrity girlfriend next January.”

On the other hand, Kim Gun Mo’s mother is returning to SBS’s “My Ugly Duckling” for the first time in eight months, and some wondered if she is doing this to announce his marriage.

In response, a representative of the program shared, “We were completely unaware of Kim Gun Mo’s marriage news. We are being careful about addressing the issue as it is Kim Gun Mo’s private life, but it was never mentioned in our previous recordings.”

Since the breaking of the news, trot singer Tae Jin Ah also took to his Instagram and congratulated Kim Gun Mo. Along with a photo of them together, Tae Jin Ah wrote in the caption, “Congratulations on your marriage, Gun Mo. Everyone, Kim Gun Mo is getting married. Fans, please send your blessings.”

51-year-old Kim Gun Mo was born 13 January 1968 and he is a South Korean singer-songwriter.

He is said to be the country’s most successful musical artist of the 1990s.

Wrongful Encounter, his 1995 album previously held the Guinness World Record for the  best-selling album of all time in South Korea.

Kim debuted his career in 1992, with 13 full-length albums and a number of awards including Album of the Year at the Golden Disc Awards for three consecutive years from 1994 to 1996.

In 2011, he received a presidential commendation from the South Korean government for his contributions to popular culture.

Selena Gomez’s relationship with Justin Bieber was ‘toxic’

By
Lydia Koh
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0
Selena Gomez is best friends with Taylor Swift. Picture: Instagram

In the past decade, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber were in and out of relationship and when they were together, there is a lot of evidence Justin cheated on Selena.

Selena has come forward to say her relationship with Justin was ‘toxic’. It’s not a secret that Justin and Selena did not have a healthy relationship.

For close to a decade, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber’s on and off relationship went on and on so many times, fans lost count.

It is also believed that even when things seemed good; the truth was that it wasn’t because Justin went through a lot.

Photo: Screengrab from Instagram

Selena’s most recent comments about her past relationship with Justin give away a lot of information.

In a recent interview on the Zach Sang Show, Selena shared about her love life, especially her first serious one.

“You’re in a phase of life where you experience love for the first time and I think that can just be just a little toxic,” she said. “You have this codependency that you think is love and then you have this addiction to the passion and the frustration with each other that you think, ‘Oh, that’s love,’ or fighting or doing all this stuff, ‘Oh that’s love,’ and I believed that for a long time.”

Even though Selena didn’t name anyone, it was clear who she was referring too.

Selena’s first love was Justin and according to insiders from both sides, things got really complicated between them.

In an interview with i-d Magazine back in 2015, Justin hinted that he cheated on Selena, saying, “You’re on the road. And there are beautiful women on the road,” he said. “And you’re just getting yourself into trouble.”

Taylor Swift confirmed that Justin was unfaithful when she liked a Tumblr post about Justin cheating on Selena.

It isn’t shocking that Selena called her relationship with Justin toxic. The shocking thing is she ignored the fact that she rekindled her romance with Justin for one last time in late 2017/early 2018, saying, “I’ve been super, super single for two years.”

Selena, you may want to forget, but the internet remembers.

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The Independent SG

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