Everyone aims to outdo each other everywhere. It does not come down to personal interest anymore. Take a look at university students, for example. Students choose to do degrees like Business, Engineering and Law simply because they want to make big bucks. Most of them probably have no interest in anything they are studying. They may have a profound interest in history or literature - an arts degree, for example - and no offence to any arts student, but as someone in that faculty once told me: 'It is a toilet paper degree'.

There is nothing we can do about these hypocrites. At least we have some guarantee of much-needed manpower in these volunteer organisations. These hypocrites would also probably put in a lot of effort so that they would get an outstanding testimonial. So instead of moaning about these people, we can focus on ourselves and perhaps be the genuine volunteer worker.

Julian Sng Yeung Liang