Reuben 0:00
On today's episode
Sam 0:02
I said, Oh no, I made a mistake. Can you imagine? I had cold feet. My stomach was turning. I was like I set down at my computer and said something's wrong.
Reuben 0:28
You're At Home, with Stacked. Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of At Home with Stacked. Now have you ever dreamt of building a house of your own? Well, my guest today might just be able to turn your dream into a reality. In fact, he claims that you can do it in eight hours with just four people and one tool. I know it sounds completely insane. More than that, though, his system has actually helped the lives of 1000s and devastated countries abroad, as you soon come to realise he doesn't claim to be an academic genius. Really, he's just a humble man with an incredible talent for building the extraordinary. Now as always, if you guys like what you listen to feel free to hop on to stackedhomes.com/editorial for more of this right after the show.
Sam welcome to the show.
Sam 1:26
Thank you for having me. pleasure.
Reuben 1:27
Thanks for joining us. So I think before we actually dive into the topic for today, I know many people refer to you as a master craftsman. Alright, so you back in the 60s, you guys would put everything from scratch or we're talking toys, houses, bridges, even. Tell us how that was like.
Sam 1:46
Okay, well, so I lived in a kampung back in the day. And in the 60s, kampung live was very different. I mean, seriously, we there was no running water, no electricity. And so everything you have to basically, you know, build on your own as well. So I think living in that kind of environment growing up in the 60s makes a person very resilient. Right. Yeah. You know, and, and I have to burn kerosene lamps for me to study at night, you know, so, and yeah, talking about toys. There were no toys. So we have to improvise. Right? I made swords. I made bow and arrows. Yeah, to shoot the chickens. So, so you become very creative. You know? And so I was very inquisitive, very creative at the time. And yeah, talking about bridges. Yes. Sometimes the big drains, we have to put planks and make a bridge for us to cross regularly. So those I mean, as a kid, like three, four years old, you start thinking about things, you know, and you become very creative, because what you have is tools and whatever is laying around to make it work. Yeah, so it's very interesting for me, in fact, yeah, I also fix the leak in our roof. Zinc roof.
Reuben 3:10
How old were you when you did that?
Sam 3:12
Gee I can't remember you know, honestly, three years old. Like two three years old. My mom would not see me till dinnertime. No way. I'm lost in the jungle forest. Where I yeah, so
Reuben 3:23
With your dad, I assume as well.
Sam 3:25
Oh, no, my dad goes to work. Wow, I've got a buddy. I've got a I've got a good buddy. Right. So two of us, quite naughty I mean we'll just disappear and then come back for dinner. So breakfast and then back home. My mom didn't worry. Because kampung life was different. It's, how do I say, the community is very connected. Everybody knows each other. And so it's very easy to move around. That gave us the freedom to do a lot of things, you know, so I learned to be independent at a very, very young age. So I mean, this day and age is so different. I mean, really, I missed those time in our lives in a way where we're able to be what we want to be at a very young age. And
Reuben 4:09
We talk about Google now, right? Tech, you want something you got a question you want to ask - bam - via Google. Back then there was, I guess you get innovation through scarcity. So when you don't actually have things you can look for, you have to invent it on your own. And and this is what you did.
Sam 4:25
Absolutely. I mean, if you go back in time, when how they built pyramids, how they built Angkor Watt how they built. I mean, yeah, they didn't go to university to study anything. Everything was intuitive, you know, they they, you know, work from the ground up. And I think that's very important when it comes to building things as well. So a lot of people now I mean, like you said, you know, even my kids, you know, they you ask them a question. They're more intelligent than me because Google is next to them. Right? So by the old days, yeah, I was tough. So everything I had to learn by experience. So, why the master craftsmen partly mentioned is because? Yeah, I pretty much am that. Yeah, because it's a skill that over the years I've crafted myself to, to, you know, to do things, you know, knowingly. So I think that's, that's important for, for where I am today. I think that was my beginning.
Reuben 5:24
Right. And I mean, you mentioned over the years, right, so it's literally been a full circle. You, when you're working with ships, all and gas, videography, music events. In fact, you were an MC one. So this is a pretty familiar scenario for you. But the thing is, you're back to designing and creating again, so what actually put you back? What was this, this final switch.
Sam 5:45
It's interesting, interesting journey I had, I was in shipbuilding. Yes, you're right. I learned my basics in shipbuilding. There was this OJT programs in those days, you know, so I learned a lot. So at a young age, I learned to weld, cut, fit, you know, do metalworking and all that. And so, during the... I think, probably the mid 80s, or something, the shipbuilding industry towards the end was going downhill and I was a bit bored doing that stuff, and they want to do something else. And so yeah, I quit the job and, you know, try to look for things and, and how I ended up in the entertainment industry, I think is another time for you. I'll tell you about it another time. So I was in entertainment, I was doing DJ and also a lot of fun, you know, seriously, you know, young drunk, you know. Entertainment was was very interesting. For me, it's completely different, like, you know, nothing to do with engineering right. But to a point when I started building stuff for the entertainment industry. So that's when this whole thing came full circle, beginning to build things, props and stuff and moving things and they have product launches, they did mechanical, you know, lifting things. And yeah, so I was going into them, then, one fine day, I realised, hey, hang on a second, I can actually do this as a business. Instead of event management, which took me like 20 hours a day, I would have Yeah, you know, event management is like crazy, right?
Reuben 7:18
Very little sleep as well?
Sam 7:20
Yeah, drunk most nights.
Reuben 7:22
So it's part of the job. That's why you function right?
Sam 7:25
It's part of the job it was. And yeah, so I figured that, you know, I could do this as a business. And I started building stuff more, and became an event support company, so to speak. And so I was thinking, Hey, we need something more efficient in the tent industry, for example, like, I was looking at the tens, and, you know, pretty, you know, what you'd call an old style of building and so I was looking around for for something more interesting. And I found this company in Canada, I went to visit them and say, Look, guys, your building structure is awesome. Can I be your agent in Asia, and, and they gave it to me, you know, so I came back here, and I started a company to build structures. So I found this shelter company in 2001. To build 10 structures. So we actually got to build one big structure in Singapore. And it's there till today, and so that motivated me to do more things, you know, and these are big structures, right? So like aircraft, hangar, kinda, huge structures, just to give us something small, you know, to do. And, you know, so my mind, went back to the time when I started creating. And I said, Look, hang on a minute, I can't find something that, you know, that fits my style of building. So I then went into creation.
Reuben 8:34
Right, so it's kind of like a sense of nostalgia, you know, that familiar feeling coming over you again. And then was was at the time when you created the Tubelar system, this about 2000s, late 2008. And so essentially, this whole thing about building a house in eight hours, this is part of the Tubelar system, right? And essentially, you have this three numbers, one, four, and eight. So one is one tool, four is four people and eight is eight hours. How long?
Sam 9:32
Okay, so, so let me go back then. Right. So I started creating something more efficient, right? Because, I mean, knowing the industry and Tubelar system was invented in... I started working on it 2007, 2008 I actually got it produced. So I was thinking about how do we build a system that can you know, eventually become a home as well and be given to third world countries. And without a drawing, and just intuitive building. So all the I would use the word idiot proof, loosely, you know, because it's it has to be a building that do not need an engineer to tell you what to do. So that was my base, where I started working on this Tubelar system. So, so with that I said, minimum tools, and you know, and minimum work, workman hours to build it. And so I started cracking on this and will and then eventually I developed it, I patented it, the system. And so what I used it for was not for homes, I used it for pop up stores, pop up venues. And my first customer was the Singapore Grand Prix is F1 in Singapore. So we did the, all the undercroft kitchens actually using my system. So we, From then on, I started popping up stores in Orchard road, and wherever else, because it was so easy to build, it's waterproof, it's engineered. So there was a lot of pop up stores. And then in 2013 I think there was an earthquake in Bohol. And people are looking for donations to basically, you know, to build their temporary hospital. So an architect contacted me and say, Hey, your system is perfect and I said yeah, of course. Instead of him purchasing it and raising the money, I donated a hospital.
Reuben 11:38
And you actually flew down where it was you and two other people? I believe so yes,
Sam 11:41
it was me and my tag planet was the architect. So we actually donated it, we packed it up. And we'll work with the government in Bohol. It's a six by nine meter hospital and shipped it over, we flew over over with the with the technician. And that's when to be honest with you, I realised whatever I invented I saw the light light, it come to light basically. Because there were farmers, there was no technical person on the ground. This is a Bohol. It was a village right. A fishing fishing village village. And so a we got the farmers one of my my technicians was there. And they just picked it up with eight farmers and my tag, they build it in eight hours. No way. Absolutely. Yeah. And it's crazy, because I documented it and and, and and actually watch the the farmers, you know, behavior on how, because they look at my tech one time and then his follow through. Yeah. So it was incredible that right in front of my eyes, I saw this thing coming alive. And that's when it the whole thing started and say we actually could build homes with this.
Reuben 13:04
Right? Right. And you know, I was just reading this article earlier. Because this was before you came into the studio. And it was essentially about your background. So you have no background in engineering whatsoever, right? Like you never you never like did all the academics and all that crazy numbers. And so that is what actually shows in your work today. It's it's simple to use. Nobody needs to have an engineering degree to understand your works. And I think that's the beauty of it. Beauty and simplicity, I guess. But at the same time, I know that it's I mean, just the fact that you had to design all this put it all together well was do you think the hardest part of designing this?
Sam 13:40
Wow. Okay. I locked myself three months in in my bedroom to do this obviously was the hardest part I actually, I think would be the patent itself the way it clips on the one without the tools to put the walls. You don't need to screw the walls in. It's a clip on system. And that was difficult. I must tell you this though. Yeah. If you ask me that what happened was, I designed it. And then I, I made said to a muld company to make the mould and the dye and extrude the profile. As the profile was on the container shipping over to Singapore. I said, Oh no, I made a mistake. Can you imagine I had cold feet. You know, I just you know, my stomach was turning. I was like, I sat down my computer and said something's wrong. Oh, my God, how could I make this mistake? You know, the funny thing is, it was not a mistake. Because when I was designing it, maybe that made it. I probably forgot why I did the gap. When it landed I looked at it and I said Hang on a minute. You need that little gap. If not, you will, won't be able to put the clip inside. And so so then I designed, what was today is actually a water seal for the gap. It's a seal, without the seal, water would get in? You know,
Whether I forgot or I completely, you know, you know, basically...
Reuben 15:24
It was like a subconscious maybe like you ,myou didn't understand what you're doing at that point. But it's like a greater force telling you Hey, just just do it just put the gap
Sam 15:31
Absolutely, seriously that I would say God sent. Honestly, it's, uh, yeah, so at the moment when I came in, and today that is actually the integral part of the structure. Right. Right. waterproofing, right, because waterproofing and also making the structure sturdy. That little rubber thing actually makes a structure steady,
Reuben 15:52
right? Yeah, yeah. Because I mean, I'm thinking if you put this in, maybe open land, right, and you're exposed to the elements, the sun, the rain, the wind, the noise. And this, you know, without this little gap that you had, obviously, you would have to redo everything, you know, send the blueprints, and again, printed extra cost.
Sam 16:11
Yeah, you will rattle I mean, they will rattle and, and, honestly, I mean, I look back now and say, Wow, it's amazing. So when it comes to design, I mean, you know, I think I was it was very intense, three months for me. So in the intensity you, I probably put it there, right? And then forgot why it was there. Yeah, so it's amazing. So, I mean, things like that happens when you are actually, you know, very into a design that you want to see it come alive, you know.
Reuben 16:40
And, and also, so I was doing some research before. And I know some people have actually used Tubelar as extension of their landed homes. So there was like, maybe an office space or additional like, floor area for one of the elderly folks of the home. But if if it actually came together as an entire home, do you think it would be possible to have this Tubelar structure as a full landed house and not just an extension of a landed at home?
Sam 17:09
Absolutely. Actually, we did do an extension. And we did do an outhouse. It's not a full house, because it's not does have toilets and other facilities, but it's an outhouse. It's a double storey, it is highly possible. Now, eight hours when you talked about earlier is a certain size, obviously, and depending on the depending on the finishing that you need. So if there are other finishes that you need, obviously, you need more time. But to get a basic unit out for a certain size, like a totally six by nine was up in eight hours by unskilled labor. So imagine with skilled labor, how fast you would have got that up. Now to build a home using our system is absolutely possible. We have actually done it. We launched in 2018, the moving house, which was completely built using Tubelar system. And from then on, we'll be marketing Tubelar system as a pop up home or flat pack home. And, and there's been a lot of inquiries from all over the world, for our system. And currently, we are actually working on a project here in Singapore as well. So it's, it's getting there. You know, people are not still used to flat pack homes. And I think it's a perception, is what, you know, you you live in a brick and mortar house and you think, you know, it should be brick and mortar, but when we did the launch in 2018, we build the mock up. And we invited people who lived in brick and mortar homes to come and feel it. You know what they said? Actually no difference? Seriously. So it's all a mindset, right? It's like you think but so I think eventually the younger generation, of course, will get used to this kind of housing system and the environment is changing. Nobody built houses for 100 years. You know, I mean, 30-40 years, you want to change one, you want to extend. The beautiful, beautiful thing about the Tubelar system is you can expand it as in when you want and and if you want to move after a couple of years, you flat pack the home back and then it's I mean.
Reuben 19:27
It's very environmental friendly as well. And you're a huge proponent of that right? I mean, you don't have to there's no like foundation work or you don't have to like go drill deep into the ground. It's portable as well in all these things. So it's I think so many bonuses I see in this but perhaps the the big question is Would this what is the difference between having a flat pack landed home and a full landed home? What is the differences in construction time? Cost?
Sam 19:58
You know, good question. Yeah. All Yeah, so brick and mortar home, obviously has a setback, you know, you got if it takes a lot of time, because it's built on site. And it's concrete, you need a lot of labor, you need skilled labor to build where else in a flat pack home, everything's done in the factory, and you just do assembly. Yeah, and of course you do some basic wet works, which is your ground, you do need to have a flat ground, or concrete footing, etc. And then the houses then actually built in the factory and you assemble them on site. So in terms of time, you probably cut short, I would say 1/3 the time you build a regular home?
Reuben 20:43
No way. So if it takes one year to build a landed home, then you would do that in maybe eight months, there are three months, two or three months. Okay, so you cut two thirds off, it's only 1/3 of the entire time for you. Wow! Incredible
Sam 20:56
Give or take
Reuben 20:57
What about cost.
Sam 20:59
Okay, so in terms of cost, what we're looking at is that we cannot sell our homes at a very high higher price than the construction costs of any country. So we kind of manage, it's more or less around that region. So because you save time, you also save money. And of course, the finishes, you know, for our systems, because you don't use skilled, skilled labor, like a mason to, you know, to do the concrete work, you know, he's just a guy just putting on the pedal, if you save a lot in the sense, you know, of skilled labor costs, etc. So that's why we could compete with so called brick and mortar homes
Reuben 21:40
And especially now in this COVID situation where we're hearing so much about construction costs rocketing. People are not even present to do construction anymore, you know, because we're so dependent on foreign labor and I think this exposes and this helps a huge market opportunity. Now, I think just speaking about that, as well, you reminded me of PPVC, so I know you're not a big fan of it. Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction. It's a huge mouthful. And basically just a brief background of that. It's there's so if you if you've seen HDBs, right, so essentially, it's really premade. modules, and then you just kind of stick them on. I think it's an accounts for about 70% of hdb's. Nowadays, construction wise, and it first debuted in 2017 application BTO. What are your thoughts on PPVC?
Sam 22:30
No, PPVCs are fine if you have space, right. And you see for Singapore, well, for example, let's take Singapore as a as an example for PPVCs, some of the components or the units come from Malaysia, you got to truck it, so you do a lot of trucking work. It's not just cost, it's also time, it's a lot of other things right. And building multi stories, it's it's, I would say it is an efficient way but in our in Singapore with our climate, we we have to try and test it for the next 20 years to see how this thing works. And I'm not knocking PPVC down. I think a lot of people are doing that. To be honest, Tubelar can be PPVC, because I can build the entire unit in the factory and put it on a truck and bring it over. Yeah, so what we can do PPVC can't do and most PPVCs now, are using because for Singapore they use concrete, everywhere else they use steel or any other material like wood to do that. So actually and it becomes very heavy. You also need large cranes to lift it. And so we we are working on low rise with our aluminum system at the moment because anything higher three storeys it become more expensive. So it's just not, you know, economically viable. But well worth looking into it. We're looking into Tubelar for for multi stories. But at the moment, so PPVC, this in essence is very different from a flat pack, you can do PPVC. PPVC, you cannot do flat pack.
Reuben 24:12
All right Sam, you've actually been in this line for decades. Whether you liked it or not as a kid, as a three year old, you're already in this line, because you're building things. But I mean, having been through all these years. You have so much experience, what do you feel needs to be changed in perhaps the construction industry?
Sam 24:33
Wow. Let me start by saying, you know, every industry they've gone high tech. Except the construction industry. You know, it's still brick and mortar, right? Yes, there's a lot of innovations coming up in I think there's a lot you can do in the construction industry. And I think one of the things we should look at is the environment and that aspect of construction, you know, and in basic brick and mortar construction, there's a lot of wastage, you know, you know, the foam boards, the, you know, and you need a lot of manpower. And, you know, I think people are trying 3D printing as you know, you're trying all kinds of means to make that happen. But it's become, it's too costly. I mean, we will probably, to be honest, I, from my opinion, we're 20 years behind in 3D printing for high rise homes and all that Yeah. Because, you know, how do you insert the steel reinforcement, etc, etc. So, yeah, for maybe, you know, single story or two stories, you probably can. But, you know, 3D printing also, you know, has its own issues. I've been to a few seminars, so I can see, those are some issues of their own. I think the government is trying now, Singapore government is trying now to push DFMA, you heard of it? Design For Manufacturing and Assembly
Reuben 26:06
Which is where PPVC comes in as well.
Sam 26:08
Yeah, PPVC, basically is a full unit, like a module, right? Prefabricated, prefinished. Okay. DFMA is like a knockdown. It's like, like, flat pack, similar to flat pack, then build on site. So those are maybe in bigger components that can be brought up. And then just connected together. There are few styles or types in the market. So DFMA, actually, the word was coined for car building, building of cars. You know, I think it was Massachusett University that wrote a thesis on DFMA. So that's been loosely use in in construction industry. And so they want to go back into that factory made assembly plant, kind of a finish, which makes sense, I think Toyota was building this kind of houses already in Japan, small, small modular unit. And I think that's where we are going to Tubelar, I would say, is a DFMA system. I mean, if I may, because everything is made in the factory, is a component system, go to site, and then erected on site. In this way, you look at a lot of saving, because you're not shipping or trucking air in a in a volume, it's flat pack. So you use the entire, for example, I shipped the 20 foot, a hospital 54 square meter in a 20 foot container. And this was back in Bohol. So if I were to ship that in a container, that'd be like four containers, empty containers, right to go there and assemble. So you look at that aspect of it. And also to make it you know, last year, the reason, okay, the thing is that you need to make it light, lightweight and easy to install. The key would be the reason is because you, if everything is heavy, then you you need use equipment machine to install. Tubelar, you don't need any, what I call lifting equipment to install. It's all manpower. That's all you need. And because it's aluminum, and it's lightweight, so every component that we do, we try not to go beyond a certain weight that a man cannot carry. So that's some of the design aspect of making it a modular system. So currently, we are working on low rise housing, right? So single to two stories, even two stories, you don't need a crane to lift it up the beams and the columns. So I think going into that era of factory may is something I think we could look at. And I would say shy away from, you know, concrete buildings or brick and mortar in a sense to try to immerse more steel or more aluminum, but I know people turn around say, hey, it's too costly, you know? I mean, yes, and no, because I probably can build faster than you, if it's a commercial building, I can deliver probably half the time when you do build in brick and mortar. So you get your building up and ready and start renting it out while the other guy is still building. So I would say good and bad. So I mean, if you waited
Reuben 29:36
It's like time is money.
Sam 29:38
ime is money. Okay? Right. So what I'm trying to explain is that you it you you cannot say that it's too expensive, right? Because if you look at time and then as opposed to you know the brick and mortar and steel, you're pretty much faster so the the ROI is also much faster because you build faster. And then manpower. You don't need certain kind of manpower that you you would use normally use in a concrete, you know, building. So all these aspects, if you take a look at it and run the matrix, we've done it before. And we're not too far away.
Reuben 30:19
So essentially materials, right. So changing materials, manpower, you want to reduce that. And I think time time, right. So there's three main things for improving the construction industry. So I mean hopefully this. I'm sure that people listening to this are experts in the industry, they've probably already been working on this, because the whole point is efficiency. You want to get the most bang for your buck. Yeah, right. So yeah, that's a really, really good point. Now, just to pull it back to Tubelar, really quickly, we we spoke about building homes. Right. So we spoke about landed homes, how you bring it from a flat pack all the way up two to three stories, tops. But how has it been received in Singapore so far? So you mentioned earlier, there was F1? I believe right? You had some build ups for f1. There are a couple of different events that can be you know, you can build that up maybe two or three day events and then tear them down really quickly. What were some of the bigger, more interesting projects that was incorporated locally?
Sam 31:19
Here in Singapore?
Reuben 31:20
In Singapore? Yeah.
Sam 31:21
Well, I would say the Singapore Yacht Show, we built our modules on a pontoon floating on the water on water. Yes. Wow. That's because it's so lightweight, you know. And so we built a few, quite a lot actually, on the water next to the boat because the boat, the ones or the the boat agents, or the sellers, they want the booths next to their boat. So he's right on the water.
Reuben 31:49
And if this was concrete, it would not work. No way.
Sam 31:52
No, you can't. Steel. No, you can't put the steel on the. Yeah. Because of the weight.
Reuben 31:57
Right.
Sam 31:57
Yeah. So we have 1/3, the weight of steel. So you know, it's extremely lightweight. It was easy and very sturdy. very sturdy. I heard. They tried to put tents on it before and he blew into the sea. So ever since then, you know, we've been doing that for for some events. And yes, you're right. In F1, we build the kitchens, you know, using our system. it's clean, it's safe. It's you know, to certain extent is fire rated, you know, if you're going to use gas. So there's a lot of benefits in that and pop up stores. Like I said, it's Yeah, it's it's easy to install. You just need a couple of guys. And you don't need equipment machinery to install. So it's very efficient.
Reuben 32:41
I think one of the challenges that I potentially foresaw at the start was perhaps sanitary, or like plumbing. Is that something that comes with the housing or does that have to be installed separately?
Sam 32:55
Okay, yes or no? Okay. So basically, the primary waterproofing modules for the base does come prefab, and then we install the sanitary wares on site. So it's not a big issue, because you can actually make them pre pre make the waterproofing floorings for toilet, for example. So it's not a difficult issue. And we're also working on what the industry calls he calls it PB use. So module toilets, in some areas, you could do that.
Reuben 33:30
And what about noise? So I mean, obviously, that's that's something that's always been an issue. You you look at all this new condos that are next to the PIE next to the highway, everyone's complaining like, oh, man, it's so noisy, you know, it could have been an issue as well like noise.
Sam 33:46
Basically, I've built sound studios, using our systems
Reuben 33:50
Using modular, Tubelar sorry.
Sam 33:52
Yes, Tubelar sound studios. So it's basically about sound proofing and the material that you use, you know, in a sound studio, you there's a cavity, first of all, second wall cavity, wall wall, and then the amount of rock wool or whatever you use on the inside. So it's not a problem. We retested on our our regular wall to a certain STC rating already. So depending on what what you want it for, it could be engineered to have that.
Reuben 34:19
Yeah. Speaking of earthquake as well. So you mentioned that you went to Bohol, right, which by the way is in Indonesia?
Sam 34:29
Philippines,in the Philippines
Reuben 34:30
I'm terrible geography, but it's in the Philippines. And apart from that, do you perhaps see this Tubelar initiative working elsewhere? Like, how else can you keep going to be incorporated, or maybe in third world countries to help people over there?
Sam 34:46
Yes. I think before we go there, I'd like to mention that Tubelar has been tested for j six in Japan, Hokkaido, Hokkaido. We have a unit there and we send it there for eight months of testing, and we've got a certain level of earthquake proof certification, which I think
Reuben 35:06
is a huge concern, right. People think about alumunium. You know, it's a lot lighter, obviously. But then people are afraid about how the structural integrity is going to be like, so I think this is great. Elevate some fears.
Sam 35:17
Yes so to answer your question, it could be used in pretty much, I think, I would say minus 20 and plus, whatever. Yeah, because we put it up in Dubai and Middle East. And the temperatures you know, can go up to 55 c degrees plus 55 degrees C and so there's not an issue basically, you see the beauty of this is, the modules, you can change the panels to whatever you want to do. If it's minus then we use a highly insulated panel system. And if it's plus this is another system, and we will look into of course your I like the kampung style of house with stilts, because you have, you know, a cooling cooling effect on the floorings. And they're good ventilations, and especially for for Asia, South Asia, tropical country, a country like ours. And so there are different designs we can adapt to different places basically.
Reuben 36:16
Do you maybe have an example or any idea of where this could be used next like country? Any plans for that? Maybe?
Sam 36:25
Oh, no. Yeah, of course. We were thinking of marketing this in the US of course, we've got some headway with talking to some people. Australia is another market we're looking at. One place I won't go - Siberia
Reuben 36:42
I almost did that once. I almost took that you know the seven day train for Moscow there you go all the way to the end. So we're gonna almost did that. I haven't actually done that.
Sam 36:50
Yeah, you should. You should bypass but you will never catch me going to that part of the world. Me and cold? Sorry. No, go No, go. I survived Hokkaido at 20 minus 21. Yeah, I survived. I was very proud of myself.
Reuben 37:04
The problem is when when the wind blows if it's still it's okay. Right. You're insulated, you're laid off the wind blows your face
Sam 37:12
It's crazy. I had the first so my driver is from Japan is taking us to this place where the where the testing was done and it was a whiteout basically snowed, you know, is what couldn't see the road and he was driving. And I asked him, he's Japanese and I said, [Japanese name], how could you see in this weather? You know what he said? "I am samurai". I didn't say anything. Just close my eyes and say you know what?
Reuben 37:41
I guess that's all you need. When a Japanese guy tells you I am samurai. Yeah, you put your full faith in him.
Sam 37:46
I think he's a descendant of...
Reuben 37:49
we actually do videos with this guy. Ghib Ojisan. I'm not sure if you've heard of him. Japanese YouTube, a wonderful guy. But he's never actually told me is a samurai. So I still haven't completed my trust in him.
Sam 37:59
You never know. You don't know. Yeah, this guy's got the look and feel. So he told me I just close my eyes. And let's get to the destination. So yeah, fair enough. Hey,
Reuben 38:07
Sam. You know what, thank you so much for joining us today, man. It's a new setting. I maybe it was a little bit foreign for the first time. But thanks for coming on the show. I think just before we let you go, if our viewers perhaps wants to find out more about you and Pod Structures as well, which is your main company, where can they go on to
Sam 38:25
Oh, they can go to Pod Structures. www.podstructures.com. And you can also go to www.tubelar.com. Tubelar is spelt t u b E l a r.
Unknown Speaker 38:40
There was a mistake I made at first I was like... TUBA
Sam 38:46
I coined the word from the word Tube and Modular. So I took that too. And Tubelar came about and it's a registered trademark. And yeah, and we also just would like to let the listeners know that we're doing a social housing project. It's called Dunia. And we are using Tubelar to make to change the lives of slum dwellers. It's a social project is a social enterprise project that we're working on. And, you know, I'm very happy to support the JR movement. And I hope you know the listeners can come and support us and look at what we can do.
Reuben 39:23
Yeah, definitely. I think it's really important in this period as well. If COVID raging around the world, I mean, doing your part to help the world. Thank you so much, Sam. Thanks so much for joining us. See you. Thank you.
Once again, that was Mr. Sam Vedanaigam. Now I'm not sure if you guys picked up on it. But that podcast was a little bit different because we actually shot it in the studio for the very first time. So hopefully it turns out okay, if you're interested, you can also catch the full at youtube.com/c/stackedhomes. Well, thanks again for joining me on this journey. And I'll see you guys the next podcast.
