Dr not = $

Just went for a wedding dinner of a secondary school ECA mate. Haven't met him for like 12 years and not say we were very close during our secondary school days but still he invited me.

Was quite like deja vu when i saw many of my secondary school mates who didn't seem to have changed for 12 years. Same faces, same character, same way of talking. Many of them are real successful. Architech, bankers, engineers... etc..

Well, having known their bread winning methods, they'll naturally ask mine and the usual response of "Wa.. earn big bucks la!" or "Iron rice bowl!"

Ya i agree that my rice bowl a bit more metallic but don't say i earn big bucks and can buy the penthouse you're designing can?
Even more ironic when someone who 'envies' i can earn $ many many is buying some >$100k sports car when i need to think thrice (and now still thinking) about buying a car like Cherry QQ...

Also, the economic crisis you're suffering may also affect me even if patient load is the same. Cos you can't imagine hospitals giving us the same bonuses or pay rise at times like this even if our productivity is the same right? (Else we'll be thrown size 20 shoes by people everywhere we go!)

I'm enjoying what i'm doing and i feel i'm paid fine.. Buying/eating things that are of above average value are not unaffordable. I also need not think too much about whether i'll have enough $$ to spend for the month. Job security is also probably better than most fields.
But sometimes i just feel like letting everyone know that Dr does not = $$.