While local university students are goofing off for four years, the ECMs, who are so poor that "they can't afford to buy a stamp for a letter home," spend their time (and save their money) reading in the library, struggling through the works of all the great writers.
當台灣大學生忙著「由你玩四年」的時候，窮得「連寫信回家的郵票都買不起」的馬華僑生，流連在免費的圖書館，苦讀各家作品，甚至為了贏得獎金，努力寫作參加文學獎。