Christmas is coming. This holiday you don\u2019t have to travel all the\nway to snowy Northern Europe to see the legendary Santa, because Santa is right\nhere at UM! Better still, we have more than one! Don’t believe me? Check it out\nand take your pick. <\/p>
In a recent \u2018Who at UM Most Resembles Santa?\u2019 survey conducted by\nthe editorial team of My UM<\/i>, each of\nthe 250 randomly surveyed UM staff and students picked one person at UM that\nreminds them of Santa. Prof Peter Zabielskis from the Department of\nSociology and Dr William Lee, interim master of Cheng Yu Tung College, were\nboth pleasantly surprised to learn that they are ranked among the top 5.<\/p>
Kind+Amiable+Beard=Santa?<\/b><\/p>
When told that some\nstudents thought he looked like a kind and approachable grandpa, Prof Peter\nZabielskis says with a laugh, \u2018I think I’m kind. I’m approachable. I don’t know\nabout the grandpa bit. I still think I’m very young at heart, but that\u2019s okay.\nAnd I’m so happy that I’ve been given this honour to think I’m a little bit\nlike Santa, but I don’t like to dress in red and I don’t have a beard.\u2019 As for\na Christmas gift for UM students, he says he wants to give them the gift of\nlearning. He hopes students will use the knowledge they acquire in college to\ncontribute to society after graduation. He says, \u2018We need skilled, talented,\ncommitted people who will try to help solve some of the problems in today\u2019s\nworld. One of my Christmas wishes is that UM students will constantly share\nwhat they have learned, their skills and creativity with others, and be happy\nto spread good around the world.\u2019<\/p>
According to our\nsurvey, the most cited Santa attribute is kindness (82%), with a grandpa-like\nappearance, and a beard, ranked No 2 and No 3 respectively. Dr William Lee,\nanother beard-less Santa-elect at UM, made the list because of his loving care\nfor students. He stands at the college entrance every morning and evening to\ngreet the students as they leave and return to the college. He also makes late\nnight snacks for students when they prepare for final examinations. Dr Lee\nbelieves it\u2019s probably his plump figure and the fact that he likes to spread\njoy to those around him and help students achieve their dreams that landed him\non the list. He says, \u2018If I could give everyone in the college a Christmas\ngift, I would give each student a piece of chocolate to bring them a festive\natmosphere. I hope students will enjoy studying and living at UM. I hope they\nwill remember to do a self-reflection at the end of each day and tell those who\nlove them, especially their parents, that they are safe and work hard here. I\nwish them good luck in the final exams. Merry Christmas!\u2019<\/p>
Love as Christmas Gift<\/b><\/p>
More than 50 per\ncent of those we surveyed believe in Santa Claus. Mario Cen, a third-year\nstudent of biomedical sciences, is one of them. As a child, he used to put a\npair of socks at the head of the bed on Christmas Eve for Santa to leave his\nChristmas gift, but the next morning he would wake up to find the socks still\nempty, until one year, when his long-awaited Christmas surprise finally came. That\nmorning, he was woken up by his parents, who, lugging the suitcases into his bedroom,\nannounced that they were taking him on a surprise Christmas trip to Bali,\nIndonesia. As for his Christmas wish this year, he hopes to find a girlfriend\nand spend a romantic Christmas with her in Disneyland.<\/p>
Some say college\nlife is incomplete without romance. Many students surveyed said the Christmas gift\nthey want the most is a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Sam Chan is one of them. But\nhe is not in a hurry to find a girlfriend by this Christmas; he hopes to find\nthe right person within the next year. The most unforgettable Christmas gift\nChan ever received was a bright red lipstick. To this day he still remembers\nhow embarrassed he felt as the other students hooted with laughter and dared\nhim to apply it to his lips.<\/p>
Good Luck in the Final Exams<\/b><\/p>
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Daisy Yang, a\nsecond-year student from the Faculty of Law, has a mother who plays the role of\nSanta each year by placing a Christmas gift on her daughter\u2019s bed. The most\nunforgettable Christmas gift Yang received from her parents was a kaleidoscope they\ngave her last year. It was the last Christmas gift she received before she left\nher hometown for Macao. Every time she plays with the kaleidoscope, she thinks\nof her parents. Her Christmas wish is that everybody does well on their exams and\nher parents stay healthy. Our survey shows that Christmas gifts that are considered\nthe best or most unforgettable are sometimes the non-material version. Some\nmentioned a hug, a smile, a message of good wishes, a romantic date, an \u2018I love\nyou\u2019 from an object of desire, or a dinner with their family. So, don\u2019t be\nstingy with your love. Spread your love and warmth to those around you, so\neveryone can have.<\/p>