How to be a rich graduate after university?

After several long hard years of studying, being in debt, living on beans n' toast; things have finally paid off by securing yourself a good job. With the 8 till 5 job, making enough to get  a nice car, nice clothes and travel foreign countries, doesn't make you any richer than a student.

Many graduate still struggle financially after securing a good job and others start early savings at the very start of their career. For this article, these two graduate shall be name as 'Credit-Card Bob' and 'Stingy Simon'.

'Credit Card Bob'
When Bob finished his university, he earn himself a good job at  a top employer firm for his field of work. Since his graduation, banks have offered him loans and credit cards. Thinking he can repay the bank in a couple of months time, Bob gave his signature and agrees to the terms and condition.

Bob's lifestyle change drastically. New clothes, expensive restaurants, fancy laptop are few of many things Bob have signed for. Payments through his credit cards/loans comes promptly on time and Bob's happy making the payments.

The company bonus was released after Christmas. It was a good year for the company and Bob's hard work in the office have been paid with a handsome bonus. The money was later use to clear his credit card debts. I asked Bob how much savings does he have and Bob replied:-

Amex credit limit = £4000
Citibank Visa credit limit = £5000
Money available to spent = £9000
Savings = £0


'I have £9000 to spent for the next few months!' I feel so rich that I will fly to South Africa and watch the World Cup with my girlfriend.


'Stingy Simon'
Stingy Simon had his fair share of parties and Epic nights during his university years. Same as Bob, Simon joined the same company after graduation. At work both Simon and Bob excel in their field of work and always praised by higher management.

Simon still shops at Asda for his groceries and daily need for the house. Occasionally Simon drops by Mark and Spencer for a nice bottle of wine on special occasions.  Simon claims Boots, Tesco, Nectar store points whenever he can during shopping. Bob laughs at Simon at times because Simon is trying to save a couple of pennies. However Simon honestly enjoys his shopping for a good bargain on his weekend routes to the shop.

Credit card and loan company have also approached Simon. Being cautious of the interest rates and his unfinished student loans he refuses the offer and just stuck to a strict budget regime. The company bonus came as well for Simon. I ask Simon how much savings do you have and he replied:-

Credit Card = NONE
Student loan = £2000
Bonus = £9000 (same as Bob)

Paid off student loan and savings = £7000


'I have £7000.00 only, considering investments for the future'


Bob Claims he has £9000
Simon Claims he has £7000

By comparison Bob seems to be £2000 richer than Simon.
Bob is spending money which he doesn't own and Simon is saving money which he rightfully own.

Two people can have entirely different perception and neither of them are wrong. These are real-life examples which are common across the younger generations today. Bob will always be working in the same rat race day in day out trying to pay his debts off. While Simon is saving his hard earn cash and spending wisely; eventually earn enough for a capital return investment such as house, bonds and shares.

It all comes down to strict budgeting and discipline of money spending. Saving pound a day can help you save £365.00 a year. What can saving a couple of hundred pounds a month enable us to do?

A wise man once said:-

A Student is someone who can make £10.00 each day

A Master is someone who can save £10.00 each day 

Reasons to do a PHD and Reasons NOT to do a PHD

If you have stumble into this blog from a search engine such as google, yahoo or bing, it means you are in Dilemma. You are either in the following situations:- 

1. Nearing graduation with good marks, considering getting a job or continue with a PhD

2. Have been offered a scholarship/grant/place in a good University and not sure to take it or not.

3. Unsure if getting a PhD means more MONEY for your future dream job 

PhD is definitely a prestigious degree to obtain and an achievement to be proud of. Not everyone can be accepted to do a PhD in university, and not everyone can finish a PhD. 

As a PhD graduate myself from an engineering background and currently working in the industry straight after. I have met numerous people from both the academia and industry and shared their views about being a PhD student as well as employing or working with a PhD student. 

There are many reasons to do a PhD:-

1. Research Interest

Many people gain research interest mostly during their final year project. Excelling and enjoyed the thrill of researching work from previous candidate in the same field. Having vision and ideas for improvement. Remember PhD is not a final year project; it is a three year programme minimal and can even last up to seven years in some cases. During this period great discoveries can be made which can be very rewarding, through minimal guidance.

2. Industrial PhD

Industrial PhD are very common nowadays and still hard to obtained. There are no fixed numbers of industrial PhD positions published/available each year in any university. It entirely depends on the funds from government body or industrial interest. If an industrial PhD is offered, it is difficult to refuse. It would help open up either an industrial career opportunity or long-term academia with potential funds boost. 

In this situation its common to have 2 supervisor to report to, an industrial and  an academia. Its always a challenge trying to please both, as vision of research expansion and work ethics can potentially contradict.

3. Moving along the academia route

Do you see yourself teaching the younger generations, inspire them about your field of work and be the brains of tomorrow? No doubt you should strongly consider research and teaching if this is what you like. Having good interest in the field is important as well. Please be advise to do a research which will potentially generate interest in industrial sector or certain funding bodies. No use working on a field which interest you and inability to gain funds to support a research group after. After all you need to pay your bills. Its not just a 3-5 years plan but potentially a 25 years plan.

4. Role Model

It is very common PhD students join very charismatic lecturer's journey in discovering the wonders of the world. It is not easy to inspire young people, if one can he will tend to have followers. Remember end of the day you will have to spent alot of time working with/for that person.

5. Interest of Location

Some subjects like biology, archaeology, marine science etc, may potentially have research outings expeditions in foreign lands. This beat sitting at your own desk the whole day. Its always advisable to move around different countries to do you PhD and learn culture and preception from different countries. Remember not to sit in a room with 4 walls doing your PhD ALONE. Issac Newton didn't discover the three laws of motion sitting in his lab or workshop!

Reasons not to do a PhD 

1. Because your mother told you so

Honestly don't do a phd cause someone told you so, cause when you hit a brick wall in your research. You will play the blame game. Remember its your own responsibility for your chosen career path.

2. You want a DR in your title

Same as the first reason, You shouldn't do a PhD cause you want a fancy title. It doesn't help with the women cause you are not a real doctor and you cannot save life. It doesn't get you first class airline upgrade. It doesn't get you a better job either.

3. No Funding No PhD

Its quite common that I've come across PhD students working on a 4 year project with their parents paying for everything including accommodation and expenses. Very common among Asian students. Seriously it cost easily £40-£50k and does not include your first degree. Why pay the Uni or the Professor money to do work for them??? Think about it!

4. If you expect to finsh in 3 years

Its very unlikely students finished their PhD in three years; inclusive of research, write up, viva and final correction. 3 years is minimal and expect lot of time investment. Not only that, it involves lots of mental stress and strain. Many people give up half way through and many lose confident along the way. Be very prepared for one. Being top of the class doesn't mean you can finish a PhD easily.

5. One man team

Some people are solitary worker. They love to work alone at their own pace. PhD nowadays require alot of collaborations and team working environment. We do no roam the jungle alone like Bengal tigers. Having someone to speak to and discuss work helps progress alot. Hence the need of conference and technical paper presentation to gather feedback on your work progress

Feel free to drop me email for any personal questions you may have. I am always more than happy to help

How to be a Photographer on a Shoestring Budget (£304.00 for me).

Digital Photography have revolution how the world captures an image in a static form. Mobile phones, mp3/ipod and camera are the top 3 most important things in a women's handbag, teenager's baggy trouser and any travel suitcase. 


However taking a nice good picture ,to post up on a blog or a nice poster print, can be a difficult task. Every mobile phone now has a built in camera, but still not great enough to capture amazing shots. Pictures outcome are commonly blurry, too dark or even too slow to capture the best moments.


I would highly recommend anyone investing on a DSLR today. Its cheap, affordable and very easy to use. Its a long term investment as well as a tool to help capture moments which would never be seen again. Have you walked down a beach and enjoyed the view so much hoping you can see it once more when the winter snow comes in? Have you ever walked on the great wall of china and wish to share your experience with your mates back home? Have you ever seen your baby daughter smiled during her 3rd birthday party and wished you could have shown her the very moment with her wedding night?

Investing on a good camera (yet cheap) will help you do all these possibilities. It does help me touch on my artistic and creativity side as well, since i am a a boring engineer.


Since DSLR have become very very cheap indeed from various inter-competing companies like Canon, Nikon and Sony. I will spare the details on technological advancement and the economy of these companies and just get straight to the point on how we can be a good photographer on a shoestring budget.


Firstly I would like to share some of my favourite pictures with everyone.

Macro shot with kit lens on a Bioshock Model

Tim Burton Theme shot of a town called Aberdeen in Scotland

Opening of a new cake shop in town.

My Wedding Venue!

A night in Florence Italy

A local night event in Brunei on Chinese New Year 2010

Lion Dance in Brunei during Chinese New Year 2010

All I used in all these pictures displayed are:-

1. Nikon D40 with Kit Lens (£250 after cash back rebate from Nikon)

I own a Nikon D40, which i bought just for £250 (in 2007) with a 18-55mm kit lens included. Taking the advise from Mr Ken Rockwell (www.kenrockwell.com), we don't need a $5000 camera to take nice pictures. All we need is a basic 30 buck camera we can do the very same. But I am not as an expert as Mr Ken Rockwell himself, I have invested my good £250 for a longer term. Basically it increases my probability of taking better pictures as well.

2. Editing Tool - Picasa 3 (Free from Google)

I don't use any expensive photo shop programme at all. All the picture shown are basic edditing from these programmes. Except for theme burton above where i use Photomatix for a very cheap fee.

3. Additional items

A nice looking crumpler bag if i am doing urban photography. I have too look cool as well if i am taking pictures with women around. (£25)

A 8G memory card which i got from play.com which can allow me about a thousand pictures on 6meg. (£12)

4. Things i Don't even own yet!!

-TRIPOD - important for night photography, dont need one cause i can find things which my camera can sit on for stability

-flashgun - i dont even have these yet. I just try multiple times till i get a good shot, or just a pair of steady hands will do.

5. Macro Lens

My first picture macro shot only cost me additonal £17.00. Its just a macro lens convertor which i got from amazon.co.uk. DOnt need a £700 lens as this one will do just fine! Just need the patience to do so!

6. Other items you might need.

-Patience - your first 10 good pictures may come from a batch of 1000 pictures. take your time cause its a learning curve on creativity and the physics of light.

-Sharing information - a good photographer does not work alone in isolation. feedback and reviews are important for others to comment. Its a good feeling sometimes when someone thinks your picture is excellent and give their views about it. I do mine alot on facebook.

-Observationary - Yes i came up with that word. Its being observant with great vision. Just imagine looking at something and hoping to capture it with a basic pin-hole camera and make it last a long time. No...er...wait, u can do the same with a DSLR at a shorter time span.

-Other people's work and vision - many can be learned from others. keep your eyes open on other people's work as well.

What you dont need!

- A $5k budget on your camera and kits

-50megapixle camera 

- biggest lens available

- travel the world - you may even capture an award winning picture from your own garden.

Last piece of advise! Get out there and start snapping pictures. No one learns photography from classes alone, listening to blogs alone or buying the top end product. All you need is passion to go out there and capture the moments!