The on-campus call centre was all abuzz following the launch of the Annual Giving 07 Phonathon campaign on 15 November 2007. The call centre is manned by 41 Student Development Associates, of whom 25 are themselves bursary recipients. They know firsthand what the generosity of donors means.

In the case of Teo Jing Ting, a senior Pharmacy student, her family fell into difficulty when her father lost his job in 2006. To fund her own education and help ease her parents’ burden, she began to give tuition and accept ad-hoc promotion work. Thanks to a bursary award she received this Academic Year, she did not have to take up more part-time jobs. Instead, she has been able to spend more time studying and experiencing university life. Now, she feels more secure and hopeful as she looks forward to finally getting her degree in May 2008.

Appreciative of the support that she has been given, Jing Ting expressed her desire to “keep the spirit of giving going” by helping other financially needy students through the Phonathon. She said: “NUS nurtured and groomed us to be where we are now. We should give back as a form of appreciation to support the University.”

Said Student Development Associate Mohsin Ahsan Malik, a second-year Electrical Engineering student: “I feel that this job gives me the opportunity to start paying back, even at this early stage, for the invaluable aid that I am receiving now in the form of a bursary.”

Computer Engineering student Ezekiel Chen, although not a bursary recipient, decided to get involved in the Phonathon because of a personal experience that strengthened his conviction to make a difference. “I have a friend who was forced to drop out just a year after entering the University because of financial problems,” he said. “This is why I joined the Phonathon. I want to contribute to the welfare of NUS students, particularly those in need of bursaries and scholarships.”