March 10, 2008

12:14 AM


Fridays

Friday, 7 Mar:

I go to class as usual. I take the bus, alight, enter the building, take 4 escalators up, and walk towards my class. JUST before I reach the door, I feel my handphone ringing. I pick up: "Hi, your teacher is sick today, so there won't be any class this week. We'll settle a replacement lesson later on".

So instead, I walk around Orchard road a bit. This man comes up to me. It went something like this:
Donation man says, "Hi. Don't worry, I'm not trying to sell you anything." --- (quote 1)
At this point, I knew he was one of those donation-solicitors, and either way, he was going to try to make me part with my money.
"I'm part of (so-and-so society), and we help to (do something for some children)"
He shows me a file, and proceeds to quickly flip through it, expecting me to read everything in those few seconds. I can't even remember what charity they're working for, nor the charity's agenda. And I don't even think this fault is on my part..
Next, he says, "You're a diploma holder, right?" --- (quote 2)
This kinda took me by surprise. I have no idea why he asked this, but I found out pretty soon.
He shows me a piece of paper that looks like discount coupons. 6 coupons of $6 off at Eng Wah cinemas for 4 people.
So, the thick-skinned donation collector asked, "So, how much would you like to donate? $50? $60?" <-- refer to quote 2 (apparently diploma holders are rich)
I counter-offered him $4 - $5, just to make him happy. He shows me the sticker on the wrapper that states '$10'. (refer to quote 1) I offered to donate the money without wanting the 'freebies', but he rejected it, saying it wasn't allowed or something. He says "Nevermind, its ok.", then walks off to catch other passer-bys.

Brilliant marketing strategy there. See, the charity teams up with the cinema in a joint venture. The cinema sells the discount coupons to the charity at say around $2-$3 each. The charity gets people to go around, getting people to 'buy donations'. People are more willing to donate because they get discount coupons. This means more donations to the charity. Even though the charity has to pay Eng Wah for the coupons, the donations they raise are more than enough to cover the coupon costs. Eng Wah cinemas get the profit earned from the coupons, and they also get more customers since the people who donated for the tickets will have to use them sooner or later. Charity wins, cinema wins. The spirit of free-will donation dies. =(

Finally, to end off, answer the question below. Virtual cookies for the right answer.
What is the girl on the right thinking?
a)Ahhh, your skin is so soft! How I wish I had skin like that too!
b)Ahhh, your neck looks really juicy! How I wish I could have a bite!