The Branded Passport

To think university students know it better than to get involved into such superficial materialistic comparisons.

From: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201011091455-198875.html

大学生申诉：做专题作业　没名牌没搭档

大学生申诉，没有名牌包，连做专题作业的搭挡都找不到！

网民eatoofull在本地论坛上爆料，听朋友说在新加坡管理大学（SMU）读书，如果没有车，不穿戴名牌，没有iPhone或iPad，社交时会遭受排挤。

此帖一出，马上引起不少网友回应。

网友SpinFire说：“对啊，女生至少要拿一个Coach包包、男生也一定至少要有个iPhone4和Gucci或LV钱包，否则没人要和你做专题作业，就连运动或消闲俱乐部也不收你做会员。”

声称是新大学生的zeroboi说，入学前最好向父母要一辆车，不然交不到女朋友。

他说：“这里的学生很有钱，真的很有钱。”

另一网友甚至说，新大是一所想当精英的人和精英凑成的大学。

不过，并非所有网民都认同，也有人说新大有不少出身平凡人。

ikileo说，认识不少过简单生活，却有很多朋友的新大学生。“这不在于你拥有什么，而是你如何与他人交流。”

新大：校方更注重品德

新大指出，网上讨论的只是个别例子，非普遍趋势。

新大学务长刘奕明副教授说，校方除了注重教育学生的思维，也强调价值观和品德。

所有新生需参加新生团队建设营，学习奉献、诚信、责任感、协作性、领导才能和卓越性等。

此外，虽然校方为培养学生回馈社会，规定学生须完成至少80小时社区服务，但超过半数学生却做了120到500小时。

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(When you see the word '网民', you may take this news story with a pinch of salt)

Quite fortunate that I don't have such 'friends' around me who judge people based on their material possessions. I don't think I've ever met such people anyway, so it's a bit difficult for me to relate to this issue.

I came across a recent newspaper article interviewing rich kids who have no qualms in spending their parents' money on branded goods. Their parents also added to their material happiness by buying them luxury items like cars, as a birthday present. The wealthy people have their own way of living and we have no right to criticize their extravagant lifestyles. It's their own money after all, and they have the freedom to spend it on whatever they want. Not to forget this keeps the economy running through consumerism too.

However if they try to impose their way of life onto those who cannot afford it, then it becomes a worrying problem.

There might be some truth to the claim that SMU students are indeed relatively richer. The school fees are higher, and daily food expenses are greater due to the central location of the school. Thus a certain level of financial capability is required to afford the various necessary expenditures.

But selecting project mates or club members based on accessories and handphone that one has? Sounds too far-fetched and childish to me. Maybe such people really exist. I wouldn't want to meet them though.

In fact most of the people I know are quite the opposite. We try to scrimp and save, find ways to get around situations without spending a single cent, compare who orders the cheapest meal in the menu, etc. Or being proud of eating at hawker centres instead of restaurants, proud of using own savings in buying something, proud of using something for a very long time without buying a new one, etc. Even I do feel like boosting when the money inside my wallet only reduced by $5 after one week.

That's good in a way, I guess. It cultivates the habit of thriftiness and develops our sense of finance management. Personally I feel better when saving than spending in general. As the saying goes: A penny saved is a penny earned.

Yay I'm actually earning money all the time haha.