I read this TODAY article with interest.
Apparently the NTU Deputy
President and Provost, Professor Freddy Boey related in the interview of how
life wasn’t all rosy for him in his early days. He had an especially hard
childhood.
Prof Boey grew up in a
Kampong at Kolam Ayer. He had 10 other siblings and his parents couldn’t earn
enough to support everyone. So from an early age, he had to work
alongside his mother to try to supplement the meager family income.
He didn’t do well in
school then. He said his parents didn’t care and looking at his terrible
grades, he would probably end up in the ITE by today’s standard. It was only
when his father nearly made him drop out of school that he starts to pay more
attention to studies.
You can read more of how
he conquered the challenges and got out of the poverty cycle here.
I like this quote from him
the most. Referring to poverty, he said
"It really helps
you to be resourceful, to fend for yourself. You don't have the mentality that
'it's my birthright to have this and that', because you assume you have nothing
and, from nothing, you have to come up with something."
I was so inspired by his
life story - Work hard and face the odds fearlessly, one day one will achieve
the great things that he/she had always wanted in life.
The another news which
caught my eye is this:- “Fresh grads expect higher salary, faster promotion:
survey”
“A new survey shows recent
graduates have higher wage expectations compared to previous years, and they
also expect promotion by the second year of work.”
Read the full article here.
Apparently, people of my
generation (Gen Y) are all about getting instant gratification. They made
assumptions and tend to think that they have the right of way.
Who knows maybe they
do…
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