Young Raymond
Each year since 1973, the University recognizes staff who have contributed 25, 35, and 40 years of service to UBC. This year, Raymond Yu was welcomed into the 25 year club. Congratulations Raymond!

Working at UBC

During the more than twenty years he’s spent working in the Transcripts department, Raymond has seen the cost of a transcript rise from $5.35, to the current price of $10.70. In addition to Transcripts, Raymond has held positions in Admissions, where he transcribed student data into the old “green screens” creating the student docket, and in Scheduling and Records, making ad-hoc room bookings, processing liquor licenses, changing grades, and helping out with exam pick-ups and sessional evaluation.

Vicki Jung has been working closely with Ray off and on for 15+ years, and reports what many of us who have had the pleasure of working with him know to be true: Raymond is reliable and always willing to help his colleagues; he loves to crack jokes, and he has a consistently cheerful and good-natured personality. We are lucky to work with Raymond!

Life before UBC

Smiling Raymond Raymond as a boy

Raymond spent his first ten years in Saigon, Vietnam before his family left by container ship and became refugees in Hong Kong. After about six months Raymond’s family settled in Vancouver.

Huey Fong cargo ship
The Huey Fong cargo ship, on which Raymond, his family, and 3500+ refugees travelled from Saigon to Hong Kong in 1978. Raymond’s family were able to pay for a cabin next to the Operator’s room, but others weren’t as as fortunate.
Fun fact: Raymond and Brenda Rooke attended the same high school, but were a year apart. Brenda has the yearbook photos to prove it!

5 facts about raymond

  1. Raymond loves to travel, especially to Asia. His favourite country to visit is Japan because the people are polite and the technology is fascinating.

    Toyota Spade
    Photo from a recent trip: The Toyota Spade has an innovative design with a regular driver’s side door (right), and a sliding passenger door (left) to enable parking in narrow spaces, and makes loading groceries easier.
  2. Raymond knows several languages including Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Fukienese (a Chinese dialect spoken in Taiwan and Singapore among other places).
  3. Raymond loves food, and enjoys most types of cuisine – except for Mexican!
  4. Raymond is an avid photographer. These days he takes photos with his digital camera for fun, but in years past he took wedding photos for friends and family with his 35mm film camera.
  5. Raymond collects old watches, coins and bills from around the world, including currency printed in error.Ray's collections