Alumni Award

Read from Sunday's paper that my uni had conferred awards to selected "worthy" individuals who had stepped in the campus at Jurong and Bukit Timah (for a while). Actually I had already seen this in the uni magazine which I would receive from time to time. Of course, enclosed include an appeal to donate to my alma mater.

Looking at the list again with more interest this evening, I cun help but noticed that a few of them who had hardly left school not that long enuf to be actually deemed as young achievers. One in particular is a certain actress who had just graduated this year. Some other notabled ones were few aspiring public figures.

I wonder the real purpose of giving out such awards. Is it to:

1. Show pple from the other uni that we have quality pple?
2. Inspire more grads or undergraduates to strive harder for the uni?
3. Serve as a form of fund-raising event, so that the priviledged fews would be more generous with their yearly donations?

Whatever is it, I had long left the appeal form in the giant yellow plastic bag at home. No donation from me this year. Last year, I did send a $20 (really peanuts) for their gesture of sending us customised address labels. This year, the donations (from my fat bonus) had gone to more worthy cause.

On the topic of monies, again from Sunday Times, I was most impressed with the young investment bankers who were making four/five times more than me. Not that I am jealous, but just have to admit that my passion for the wrong type of maths (i.e. engineering maths, rather than finanical figures) is not bringing me anywhere close to them. Dun get me wrong, I am happy with what I have. Unless I am like someone I know thro work. This chap actually had proclaimed several times that he is like "Chi Ye Chi Bu Bao, Er Ye Er Bu Si" - meaning "Cun eat full, but would not starve to death". And he had just swopped for a 2L sedan car and upgrading from a HDB unit! This is sth that makes me sick.

For sure, this is one that would not likely to part his monies to any charity cause. Any way, my uni, who is actually a registered charity body, should not be too sad abt it, he did his education miles, miles away.