I gave and i finally got something back in return..

Perhaps I've begun doing things right. So I flipped the pages of the paper and I found THIS (and another article too)! Aaron's published my piece in (almost) mint condition.

Thank goodness all his nagging and coaching did not go to waste.
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Celebrate by Giving
By Cheryl Tan

Bags and bags of old clothes, plush toys and foodstuffs cluttered the foyer of T19.

Was it a flea market?Actually, it was a jumble of used items collected for a good cause.

Marking the end of the School of Business’ (SB) Community Service Day, items collected over a 2-week period were handed over to The Salvation Army (Singapore) on 31 May 2006. Bags filled up all five collection bins, leaving many others lining the floor within the designated collection area.

The charity drive, initiated by a team of three lecturers and headed by Madam Chew Suan Chin, was created as part of the School of Business’ 20th Anniversary celebrations two months ago.

Mr. V. Maheantharan, Director- School of Business, said: “As educators, it is our duty to facilitate care and giving. We held this charity drive so that our students would start to think about someone else more in need than themselves.”

With the tagline ‘Celebrate by Giving’, the event engaged some 2660 students, as well as 121 members of staff from three departments; namely the School of Business, School of Media & Infocomm-Technology (SMIT), and the Department of Math & Science (MS).

Mr. Richard Goh, Operations Manager for Red Shield Industries-Singapore, said of the donations: “This collection will make up items to be sent to Tanjong Pinang by the Navy at the end of June 2006. The people in that area, such as fishermen, villagers as well as students who may not have classrooms to study in, require help.”

Response from the students was positive as some donated items even at the very last minute. This led to a change of the collection deadline to 30 May 2006.

Phyllis Toh, Second-year student from SB, said: “At the end of the day, these will go to a good cause. I chose to donate some clothes, toys and books- things which appeared on the (Salvation Army's) wish list.”

Mr. V. Maheantharan felt that the positive response to the charity drive is a sign that “we should do more (of these activities), not once in 20 years”.

The collaboration with Salvation Army is a first for the School of Business. Other community involvement projects by SB included island-wide reading sessions on 30 July 2005 as part of the Speak Good English Movement.

The School of Business’ 20th Anniversary celebrations was launched on 12 January 2006 with SB Day, where a flea market concept was adopted for students to hone their entrepreneurial skills. A special 20th Anniversary Gala Dinner was held on 9 March 2006 at Sheraton Towers, where Singapore Polytechnic’s Principal, Mr. Low Wong Fook honored the achievements of past and present SB students.