"It costs S$400,000 (US$280,000) for a Singaporean student to study veterinary medicine in Australia," one young lady veterinarian informed me. This is a large amount. Around 3-4 veterinary scholarships may be awarded per year. Therefore the majority of the new graduates in private practice is privately funded, usually by parents.

In 2009, the Australian dollar once again shot up by 30% within a year. That greatly increases cost for the parents. What happens if parents cannot support a student halfway through the course? I often wonder whether such a veterinary undergraduate in dire financial straits would succeed in the face of adversity?

Every year, he would need $80,000 to pay the fees and the accommodation as the course lasts 5 years prior to 2009 for most veterinary schools in Australia. Murdoch now demands 6 years.

A car is needed to travel to farms and university but I often wonder how poorer students can afford a car. A 10-year-old old car costs around S$3,000 in Perth, Australia unlike $30,000 - $40,000 in Singapore. On my visit to the Willetton suburb of Perth recently, I stayed in a house. Each of the 5 undergraduate students sharing a house possessed a car. If you relate to the Singapore situation, none of them would possess one since an old bomb would cost $30,000.

No matter how we view it, when you are down and out, $3,000 is a lot of money. 

I visited Murdoch University Veterinary School in October 2009 to attend its continuing education and was surprised to see a student volunteer group providing free bread and butter for students usually from overseas. I had presumed that there were no poor overseas undergraduates in Murdoch University.  Just as Singaporeans presume that all Indonesian Chinese in Singapore are wealthy.

I doubt you will see such a group in Singapore's University. There must be a need for free breakfast by poorer students, presumably from Asia. These volunteers are very kind to help out those in need. What is the name of this social conscious volunteer group, I don't know.
 

After seeing this admirable group doing good social work, I had a question in the back of my mind: "Are there any young veterinarian who has had worked his way through college?" Are all private students from well-to-do families since $400,000 is not a small sum to finance the study of veterinary medicine in Australia.

If you believe in divine powers, my question was answered by my meeting with one young vet one month after I returned from Murdoch University. He was personable and chatty.  I knew he loved veterinary medicine from the way he talked about the patients and exotic cases like a star tortoise in his practice and how he prepared for his video-examined presentation during the 5th year.

The Murdoch Vet School has this room where a video camera is installed at the corner of a ceiling in a room facing the door entrance. In this room, the 5th year student would act as a "veterinarian" interacting with selected real pet owners. The student's actions would be video-taped and the student critiqued and evaluated.

"Did you see the video camera?" the young vet asked me when I brought up the subject of this method of training students for the real world.  

"Yes," I said. "If one is not observant, one will not see it. It is rather substantial and obvious. A Heart Specialist and I were shown the inner set up of the Murdoch University Vet School when I attended the Continuing Education Course in Cardiology recently.

"The Cardiologist who is an excellent lecturer mumbled to me that he was glad that no such video set up existed during his student years. I shared his sentiments. Fortunately I did not have this 'Smile, You are on candid camera' video evaluation stress during my 5th year at Glasgow University."

But times have changed since 1973 when I was in my 5th year. The young ones nowadays are much more sophisticated and showy. My female classmates in Glasgow University 1969-1974 were all dressed like hippies compared to the present cohort. Some female undergraduates have excellent grooming and make up. They wear branded dresses and shoes and carry LV handbags. If you don't know what "LV" is, it is Louis Vutton. Notebooks (or laptops for young readers who may take the meaning of notebook literally) in 1969-1974 were made of paper and not electronics. Telephone calls home to Singapore were too expensive and seldom made by either parent or child. 

"So, how did you do the video-show? Is there a script? Did you rehearse before action begins?"

"Well," the young graduate said, "Professional actors will give a demonstration and act according to some situations in a scripted card."

He continued: "The dog owner must be informed as consent is needed. One must select a good owner, somebody who has a helpful and kind personality. Then I whispered to the owner coming into the video room with the dog: 'I am being 'graded'."

I was impressed with his reinforcement of grading thus starting a pre-emptive strike at the heart of the video examination system. He was no dumb blonde, another stereotypical thinking. Many Australian undergraduates at Murdoch University have blonde hairs during my October visit and I am sure they are not dumb, being cream of the young crop to attend university.

The young man continued: "You also have to choose a small dog as it is easier to examine it. Otherwise you have to bend down and struggle with a big breed and the camera can't film what you are doing."

I had not thought that the choice of dog is so crucial to the success. This young man had analysed the situation and know what factors contributed to success.
I would probably have had chosen an unco-operative owner and a ferocious Rottweiler. I would have got bitten, the owner would have shown great displeasure and I would have failed the video performance.

"So, how did you do it? Did you ace this grading?" I asked this young vet whom I  deem to be a heart-breaker. He was single and eligible and together with a  Porsche sports car, most feminine hearts of his generation will suffer from ventricular arrhythmia.
 
"I will introduce myself as a student and explain to the dog owner that I am preparing the dog for the vet after doing the initial check up. The owner smiled and at the end of my check-up, she said 'Very good work! Well done.'" That meant an extra point to this young man, I am sure. 

All this action would then be shown to all students and criticised. A good actor will be necessary in real veterinary setting and so this training is necessary. Who would want to consult a vet who acts wooden? So this training is a good thing.    

"Do you kiss the dog in practice?" I asked him. "Did Murdoch Vet School professors teach you that kissing dogs will endear you to dog owners?"  One vet is known to do this in Singapore and the owners will send their dog to the groomer before seeing this vet. This was what the groomer told me. This vet  has a flourishing practice.

"No," the young man said. "Many dogs have bad breath."

Back to my quest as to whether there is any vet working his way through vet school, like some successful Hollywood actors working as waitress in acting schools, this young vet was one such person.

During his 4th year at Murdoch University, the Australian Dollar shot up by at least 20%. His savings ran out. He found difficulty in paying the room rental.

"Didn't your parents support you?" I asked him when I meet him at a networking session. From the way he nodded his head and gave no comments, I don't think that support was sufficient. $80,000/year is a killer amount for the majority of Singapore's middle-class parents as that meant one parent had to earn at least $7,000 per month before taxes to support a child. Money meant for retirement. The median income in Singapore, I believe, is $3,000 for a family of four.

"What did you do to support yourself through school?" I was curious.

"I played the baroque,." he said or some words sounding like "baroque". I did not ask him so as not to show my ignorance of music or musical instruments.

"One evening, on the eve of examinations, I was performing. I saw my two lecturers in the audience. Immediately my mind went blank - I forgot my song!"

He was asked whether he could play the organ at the Church. He had not much time as 4th year was a high pressure-cooker year. So, music gave him some money to fund his education. He was in the 4th year and that was the most demanding year of lectures. The 5th year was relatively relaxed as the student does more clinical cases. The Veterinary Hospital accepts 82 undergraduates and a small number will be rejected. He needed to spend the time to study. If he failed the 4th year, he would have to repeat another year.

"Would revenue generated from music be sufficient to put you through college since I presumed you had minimal, parental support ?" I asked. "How much do you pay for room accommodation?" I asked. Rentals can be as much as $300 per week in some universities like Sydney. 

"I met an old classmate from Singapore. Her family had a house near where I rented a room. She had a spare bedroom and offered to let me have this room to make ends meet."

A guardian angel sometimes appear if one believes in the divine phenomenon.  

"Do you have to marry the daughter?" I presumed the old classmate was single. Their paths had crossed in Perth. The girl's parents were very wealthy. He got along well with the visiting parents and sang with them after dinner.

The girl's mum liked him very much. All mums would want a good spouse for their child and being a parent myself, I would say, he was good husband material - a boy-next-door veterinarian if he graduates.

Well brought up to respect elders and hard working despite financial setbacks. Not a rich man's son zooming around in a Lotus sports car and partying.   

The girl's parents offered him a share to establish and operate a big piggery operation in Xiamen after graduation. His veterinary training and hard working characteristics would add immense value to this new business venture. Pork is  in great in prospering China. So this was a great business opportunity to be richer.

He was not into pigs.

"How about setting up your own veterinary hospital in Singapore since Singapore has only one veterinary hospital?" the girl's father proposed this venture.

This young man had an offer he should not refuse. In this veterinary hospital, he would have all the modern equipment that a clinic with its small space could not accommodate. His prospective in-laws has the necessary money to buy the best and latest equipment, making this the Veterinary Hospital all Singaporeans will flock to. 

The girl's father said, "You just be the Chairman. There will be a Chief Executive. It will have veterinary specialists from overseas. Pretty nubile young nurses and receptionists to attract clients and to provide the best services. Most clients prefer sweet young things rather than matronly frontline staff.

"This hospital will also have A CT-MRI scanner. It will be the referral center for all the cases from the feeder veterinary clinics,"  the girl's father knew what to do. 

So, this was an offer he should not refuse as he would just be an ordinary veterinary employee after graduation.

In addition, he had an opportunity to move up the social ladder. A well respected owner-vet of a most modern veterinary hospital in Singapore, hob-nobbing with the higher strata of Singapore's society. He would elevate the standard of veterinary care in Singapore. His financial backing was solid. Such opportunities don't come to anyone in a life-time. What would you do if you were in his shoes? Say yes, yes, yes?

"Didn't the girl object to mum's proposal of an arranged marriage?" I asked. Well, he knew the girl first in Singapore and this was not really an arranged marriage. A marriage of convenience? Not exactly as he was getting to know her. 

"No," he said.

"So, what's the problem? Don't you love her?"

The young man quoted me two Chinese idioms in the course of our conversation regarding good heroes and sourness in fruits. I don't know how to translate as my grasp of Chinese language is no good. I knew what he meant. In essence, one cannot be man enough to rely on a woman's financial support to succeed in life or marry a girl of a different behaviour. 

This is the second time I hear of a similar occurrence where the stars bring together a daughter from a very rich family with a young male undergraduate from a poor family. The daughters in both cases had no objections to the marriage and had offered to help the poor man financially.

The upbringing of a daughter in a very rich family is so much different from that of a girl from a poor family. She has everything and gets pampered to her every wish and fancy. Shopping for branded goods and clothes most of the time. Salvatore Ferragamo shoes at $1,000 a pair and several pairs worn once kept in the cupboard. Handbags costing $5,000 each.

What do you expect her to do since she has the money? She has no respect for the elders usually as they cater to her every whim and fancy from childhood. But this may be stereotypical thing as there are rich girls who are frugal and make good wives.

But can the poor man give her the high standard of living she is accustomed to? Will she really respect him for being an opportunist enough to marry her?

Love had not blossomed yet in this case. The room was the bait. The young man was hooked. And the girl's mum could see that this was a good man.  He offered to wash the dishes when the mum cooked. Many young men would not even offer to wash the dishes as they don't do it in Singapore. The daughter, I presumed, would just let the mum do all the washing and cooking.

The mum was from the baby-boomer generation that knew hardship. She cooked and her maid washed dishes.

She wanted what all mums want. A good husband for her daughter. But when the daughter has all the monies of a wealthy family to indulge in, her character changes. Her mindset and personality change. She becomes high-maintenance, in my stereotypical thinking of the average rich young woman.

It was probably premature for the parents to make a proposal to finance the setting up of a veterinary hospital for him in Singapore.

This proposal is one that can sabotage any budding young adult relationship as any responsible,  independent and intelligent man will be scared off. If he succeeds, his wife will say, "If not for my parents' money, you are nobody." If he fails, people will say, "This opportunistic good-for-nothing is a gold digger and useless." So, what should this young man in such a situation do?  

Did the poor young undergraduate men in both cases I encounter marry the girl for her money? No. In this second case, I felt that the mum had sabotaged whatever relationship this daughter could have developed if she had the time.

It would be better for parents to be hands-off in matters of the heart. So, there was no living together happily ever after in these two cases. Some young men studying overseas will meet and befriend girls from extremely wealthy families - a situation they may not encounter while studying in Singapore as the rich girls are usually from foreign countries studying in the U.K, Australia and USA. Their wealth can last 3 generations at least and herein lies an opportunity to move up the social ladder. Offers to succeed in life may be proposed. Should such young men accept offers he should not refuse?  I have no answer.