Would it actually kill NTU students to dress better? And does NTU have implicit dress codes? Blogger Grace Chew finds out more.

The next time you think about coming to school in flip-flops and shorts, think again – what you wear can actually have far-reaching consequences that you might not have thought of.

Your dress sense can actually reflect personal and school identity, according to Dr Jung Younbo, a professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information in Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

“Clothing can be part of nonverbal communication. You are showing part of yourself and your personal identity,” he said.

He added that different dressing styles might be related to the work that students do.

For example, business students may be dressed more formally when they are out on internships to meet clients, while engineering students may need to spend long hours at the laboratory, and therefore are dressed in jeans and T-shirts out of comfort.

Kenny Yong, a second-year Biology student, also agrees that practicality can influence such implicit dress codes in NTU.

He said: “No one would wear a pair of $500 Louis Vuitton shoes to the lab – you can’t afford to have toxic chemicals spilt all over your best outfit.”

In addition, hall students may tend to dress more casually out of convenience, noted Year 1 Psychology student Caitlin.

Casual dressing, however, may reflect poorly on your personal image, said Wilfred Lim, winner of the 2011 NTU Style (Nail That Unique Style) contest.

“I feel that wearing slippers to a lecture is too casual as you’re showing your toes. It feels like you’re not showing enough respect to your professors and classmates,” he said.

Similarly, fourth-year Economics student Gladys Ng also pointed out that students should have the basic self-courtesy to dress well.

“Some students come in FBT shorts, T-shirts and slippers. It’s as if they don’t give a damn about anyone else,” she said.

Thus, the former Dapper Editor from Nanyang Chronicle decided to start the NTU Style contest, so as to encourage students to dress well.

She attributes the casual dress culture in school to a possible judgment present.

“If I dress up, people will ask me if I am going clubbing.

“But it’s normal when you are in Singapore Management University as it’s so near to town. This contest was also started to tell people that they don’t have to be afraid of being judged,” she said.

So how should NTU students dress? NTU Style contestants offer some wardrobe advice.

“I am always dressing to my character – My dynamic character is like an explosive bomb that shocks people. I would not hesitate to rip my top and cut my sleeves. So be yourself, and wear something comfortable, be it just bra and undies.”

Alice Ng, Art, Design and Media Year 2

“Dress appropriately for the occasion. For example, I won’t go in T-Shirts and shorts to a wedding dinner. Also, being minimalist is a good style. I don’t wear accessories, I won’t try out flamboyant styles and I stick to safe combinations. ”

Wilfred Lim, Art, Design and Media Year 2

“Dress comfortably. While dressing well could have a good impact on your school reputation, some people dress well but don’t know anything. At the end of the day, it’s still substance over appearance. Avoid dressing up so fancifully, say, in 8-inch high heels. It’s bad for the spine.”

Kenny Yong, School of Biological Sciences Year 2

Watch the video to see what NTU students from various faculties really think, and what a Professor has to say about wearing slippers to school! NTU Dress Culture

Photo Gallery of NTU Style 2011 Contest Winner and Finalists

More Singapore doctors are taking time off to save lives in the Third World. Vivien Sham finds out more.

Peering through a microscope, eye surgeon Shamira Perera carefully makes an incision in a patient’s eye and extracts a thick, clouded cataract. He then inserts an artificial lens. After a few hours, the patient can see clearly again.

A few metres away, long queues of low-skilled workers wait for a life-changing surgery they cannot afford, but made possible when the 38-year-old ophthalmologist from Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) took time off to volunteer at a Myanmar hospital.

Like Dr Perera, more Singapore doctors are joining voluntary mission trips, bringing more advanced surgical techniques to needy patients in countries such as the Philippines, Cambodia and China. These trips are also better organised than a few years ago.

Volunteer missions are very popular in places where advanced medical services, such as surgery, are not widely available.

“When we went to Yunnan three years ago, the medical team comprised barely eight staff,” said Dr Stephanie Young, a 28-year-old ophthalmologist from the National University Hospital (NUH) active on such trips.

Three years later, Dr Young’s team had 18 people, higher-tech instruments and operating microscopes for a cataract removal mission trip to the Chinese city of Xining.

Mission trips are warmly welcomed in neighbouring countries where such surgical services are not so easily available.

“Operations are the biggest draw for patients,” said Dr Helen Isaac, a practitioner who volunteers regularly on medical missions. The 44-year-old feels that the free consultations and medicines provided there provide only fleeting benefits.

The success of the pioneer small-scale projects has generated excitement in the medical community, with more sponsors and medical professionals wanting to contribute and participate.

For Dr Young’s Xining project, it gained visibility through the media and word-of-mouth.

“A lens company donated intraocular lens, and other hospitals loaned us their equipment,” said Dr Young.

A volunteer doctor at a clinic in China.

The field of general surgery in volunteer missions, likewise, is starting to pick up and more doctors are forming medical teams to go abroad and operate on low-risk cases like hernias and tumours.

In the past, most volunteer doctors in general surgery worked independently. This changed when Dr Anthony Than, 39, a general surgeon from NUH, founded Project SOUL (Surgical Outreach for Underprivileged Localities) in 2009.

Under Dr Than’s project, surgeons formed a team to provide general surgical services to rural areas lacking in medical amenities.

Doctors invest heavily, often with their own time and resources, into organising and planning these overseas trips. For Dr Loon Seng Chee, head of the Xining project, a lot remains to be done even after returning to Singapore.

“I’m already doing the stock-taking and emailing the local Bangladeshi doctors about the next trip in December,” said the the outreach director for medical missions for National University Health System (NUHS).

However, there are factors preventing Singapore doctors from heading to developing countries.

Dr Loon even had to turn down some who wanted to join.

“I only need a core team of medical personnel who would then take on additional responsibilities like crowd control,” said the consultant ophthalmologist from NUH. “Doctors outside ophthalmology cannot help much during the mission trip.”

Back in 2007, Dr Perera was already keen on making the Myanmar trip but the birth of his child made him delay his mission trip plans till last year.

Dr Joel Aduan, 35, ophthalmologist at NUH, volunteers for local eye screenings but said: “I’ve never gone on such trips as they are more time-consuming and I’ve got other commitments.”

Doctors in private practice also forfeit some earnings when they stop business to go overseas. Dr Cheong, who works in Gleneagles Medical Centre, said: “There is an opportunity cost in going for these trips. Even if the clinic is not open, I still have to pay rent.”

Conditions are less than ideal on these missions and doctors have to adapt to the unexpected, such as electricity cut-offs and even snow storms blocking patients’ access to clinics.

Despite these challenges, doctors are going back for more.

Dr Cheong, who has gone on cataract missions trips once every six months in recent years, declares it is “not all about money” and enjoys seeing the world off the beaten path.

Cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in low-income countries and we are fulfilling a real need, she added.

Dr Than, the Project SOUL founder, said that Singaporeans see treatment like “paying $5 for a burger, and that’s it.”

In contrast, on these mission trips, patients and their families are happy and grateful.

“It becomes a two-way exchange of us providing services and them giving us the professional satisfaction of being a doctor,” said Dr Than.

This edited article was written as an assignment for the News Writing and Reporting module at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University.

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Parents are spending liberally on electronic products for children as young as two. Sara Yap finds out more.

When Kylie Choong bought her nine-year-old son Dylan an iPad, his younger brother Darius begged to be given one too. Out of fairness, she bought an iPod Touch for three-year-old Darius to share with her third child, two-year-old Drayden.

Ms Choong does not think her sons are too young for such costly gadgets. In fact, Dylan was only three years old when she bought him a Gameboy Advance handheld game console.

“I want my kids to be trendy. I don’t want them to feel inferior; I don’t want them to see people having things they don’t have,” said Ms Choong, a human resource manager.

Dylan, Darius and Drayden belong to an unlikely market — young children aged 12 and below with no spending power. Drawn to “hip factor” of possessing such items. they are snapping up smartphones, e-book readers, laptops and game consoles.

Parents do not want their children to miss out on the trendy gadgets of today, said Mr. Jonah Joaquin, 29, who works in frontline sales at iStudio, a store specialising in selling Apple products.

Every weekend, Mr. Joaquin sees three out of 10 customers patronizing the store to buy products such as the iPad and iPhone for their young children of primary school-going age and younger.

Children are savvy customers too, keeping up-to-date with the latest gadget and making informed choices, according to mobile phone promoter Lew Ying Tong, who from 2010 to April last year saw a daily average of seven to 10 parents buying smartphones for their children. The most popular item was the iPhone 4.

School Clerk Jane Tan recently bought her 12-year-old daughter Kai Lin an iRiver Cover Store and iPhone 4.

The iRiver, an e-book reader, was purchased during an IT Fair in 2009. Kai Lin’s aunt had bought the device for her son at a technology fair back then. Not wanting Kai Lin to feel left out, Ms Tan bought one for her as well.

“As a parent, I didn’t want to disappoint my child,” said Ms Tan, 55. “If children cannot keep up with the trends, they will feel left behind. They may ask their parents why they cannot have (the same gadgets) their friends own.”

Some parents have capitalized on the “cool” factor of owning such products to motivate their children to achieve certain goals, offering the iPad and iPhone to their children in exchange for stellar examination results.

General manager Tan Yeok Leng gave his son Hong Rui a Creative MP4 as a reward for his good Primary Four examination results. Today, 13-year-old Hong Rui has his eyes set on the iPad 2 and he plans to ask his father to buy it for him if he excels in his exams.

Consumer electronics retailers said that advertisements and savvy marketing campaigns has helped popularise certain gadgets.

“The media presents (Apple products) as a ‘must-have’. Apple products have become a status symbol” said Mr. Joaquin.

However, school counselor Goh Eng Keng warns that gadget games are addictive because of their easy-to-master nature. Young children will find it difficult to stop using gadgets, leading to prolonged gameplay.

She suggests that parents moderate their children’s use of electronic devices, and even reap benefits from using these electronic gadgets.

Many of these gadgets are equipped with connections to the Internet, so children now have access to a ‘wealth of information’, said Ms Goh. For example, they can be used for academic purposes after downloading e- books and educational games for their children.

“Ultimately, it is important for children to know how to use such devices as they are living in an age where everything is digital,” said Ms Goh.

Some parents are unwilling to buy electronic gadgets for their young children. The main reason given is that children—especially those aged 12 and below—are not mature enough to moderate their usage of such devices.

Civil servant Neo Boon Sim, 41, does not plan on buying any electronic gadgets for his two children anytime soon.

“I deliberately choose not to buy such devices for them. Even when they reach Primary 5 or 6, I still don’t think they will be mature enough to control their usage (of these gadgets),” said Mr Neo.

This edited article was written as an assignment for the News Writing and Reporting class at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University.

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In early September, residents in Sengkang woke up to a new sight in their neighbourhood.

Light Rapid Transit (LRT) trains, which have been operating in the town since 2003, now bear sleek advertisements for a condominium project near the town centre.

These advertisements, which promote the Luxurie Condominium being built near the Compass Point shopping centre, feature prominently on both sides of train cars.

While advertisements are common on buses and MRT trains, this is the first time they have appeared on light rail networks in Singapore.

Banker Adolphus Lee, 26, said: “This is the first time I’ve seen this in my 13 years of living here.”

Mr Michael Palmer, a Member of Parliament whom oversees issues in Sengkang, is not surprised by the advertisements.

“It is quite natural for an operator to want to maximize space with an advertising revenue stream,” he said.

Residents welcomed the advertisements to the LRT trains.

“Advertisements on the LRTs are a good thing, as they may inform me of something I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” said Mr Lee.

Housewife Kok Wai Mei, 41, agreed. “It’s effective. (While) people are waiting for the train, they will notice the advertisements on it when it arrives.”

But other residents, such as Mdm Juraidah Ahmad, 49, were puzzled by the choice of the LRT as an advertising medium.

“If the condominium is being built in Sengkang, then why advertise it to those who already live here?” said the homemaker.

Student Denise Lim, 13, said: “I see the advertisements every day, but I never paid attention to them. I just want to get to school.”

While Luxurie Condominium developer Keppel Land declined comment on their choice of medium for their advertisements, another resident, Mr Sher Zaman bin Gulam Sarwar, felt that it was a good call on the company’s part.

“The people in Sengkang already like it here, and are used to the sheer amount of amenities available,” said the 51-year-old security officer. “As such, it was definitely a good idea to advertise to the residents. They may just want to upgrade to better living conditions without having to move out of Sengkang.”

Ms Sally Ang, a coffeeshop supervisor at Rivervale Mall, felt that it was a cheery change to the uniformity of the LRTs.

“Advertisements on the train are pleasing to the eye, as they will make them more colourful,” the 56-year-old said.

This edited article was written as an assignment for the Basic Media Writing course at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, which involved reporting a new observation at the students’ neighbourhoods.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew did not stick to the ministerial forum theme ‘The Way Forward’, but made it up with his personal touch and humour nonetheless, students said on Monday.

The forum, organized by the NTU Students’ Union on Sept 5, was received with enthusiasm with all some 1,800 tickets snapped up within 24 hours. During the dialogue, students were given a rare opportunity to ask the former Prime Minister about Singapore’s future.

But irrelevant questions could be a reason why the former Prime Minister did not stick to the theme, said communication studies student Kristle Yeow.

“I felt the questions asked today were not thought provoking,” the second-year student said. “The theme was ‘The Way Forward’ and the questions didn’t really fit into the theme.”

Questions dealing with the September 11 terrorist attacks and Singapore’s colonial history were posed to Mr Lee in the dialogue, pushing the discussion into Singapore’s past instead of its uncertain future.

In a surprise move, organisers had removed the opening speech, giving students an unprecedented 45-minute QnA session with Mr Lee.

But this has disappointed third-year student electronic and electrical engineering (EEE) student Daniel Low. “The session should be more towards what Mr Lee wanted to tell us,” said Low.

“We don’t have quality control in selecting the questions,” he added. “The 45 minutes were not fully utilised.”

Not all is lost, however. Alvin Ang, a fourth-year EEE student, found the dialogue engaging and was surprised by Mr Lee’s sense of humour.

When Mr Lee advised PhD student Joan Sim, 27, not to ‘waste time’ in starting a family as it is more important and satisfying than her doctorate, the audience burst into laughter.

“I didn’t expect that out of him,” Ang said.

The calm manner with which Mr Lee answered the questions impressed Daniel Lee, a first-year Art, Design and Media (ADM) student.

“He is just the composed person you expect, and not one who rushes into decisions,” he said.

But first-year accountancy student Kumari Sonam feels that beneath the composed exterior, age is catching up with Mr Lee, who is fast approaching his 88th birthday.

“He didn’t look as vibrant as in other forums,” she said. “It’s surprising to see him so fragile.”

Additional reporting by Janie Chee

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Our photographer Wallace Woon and Editor Chua Yini was at NUS to cover the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum on April 5th. Here are some pictures and reactions from the ground. You can also check out our live blog and editorial.

At 7pm sharp, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrives at the University Cultural Centre, National University of Singapore. He is accompanied by his wife, Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching.

The hall was packed with students, government officials and media.

PM Lee's theme is about leadership renewal and finding the 4th generation of leaders for the Singapore government. With the General Elections expected to be weeks away, various political parties had revealed new candidates including some as young as 27.

Voters born after 1975 now make up the bulk of registered voters for the upcoming General Elections. In addition, there has been an influx of new citizens into Singapore over the years due to liberal immigration policies of the ruling People's Action Party.

After his speech, PM Lee takes questions from the ground. To his left is NUS moderator Ng Pei Yi, a law student.

NTU student Tay Xiong Sheng speaks to PM Lee. He posed a scenario where PM Lee, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and other top Ministers were on a plane that failed to land, and who would be able to take over the government. PM Lee did not answer the question directly, except to say that the remaining members in government would have to hold a meeting and discuss about it.

PM Lee, Singapore's third Prime Minister since independence, hopes that the fourth PM can take over around 2020. When asked if he intends to follow his father's footsteps as the Minister Mentor, PM Lee replied that there will be only one MM, Lee Kuan Yew.

The Enquirer talked to several students immediately after the forum ended. Here are some quick reactions from the ground.

Chia Ai Zhen, NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Year 2

“I expected the Q and A to be more heated. The questions were rather ‘hypothetical’, not enough ‘on the ground’. There is also too much analogy, especially to football.”

Tang Li Min, NUS School of Engineering, Year 3

“The questions asked reflect what the people are thinking, what they really want to ask, like things about MPs. The best part is getting answers straight from the PM himself instead of reading from newspapers.”

Tan Yan Zhu, NUS final year law student

“It was informative, I’m glad the PM spoke in a more personal tone, especially to engage with the younger audience. Some questions about the GRC were quite on point, but thought that generally they should have kept more to the theme of leadership renewal.”

Desmond Kwan, NUS economics major, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

“Its a very safe forum. I heard a lot of views that are already heard before. The Prime Minister was touchy on the ministers’ pay, and probably felt a bit of angst. He is probably frustrated that the issue has been brought up very often. Regarding Tin Pei Ling, I felt the internet is a scary place. It is blown out of proportion and its not fair to her.”

Aakash Sardana, ACS(I) international baccalaureate

“Its a good chance for people to find out about probably policies in Singapore and also personal thoughts of people. A good forum for not just Singaporeans but also foreign residents. The questions showed a high quality of thinking. They (questioners) seem to genuinely concerned about what is going on this country. That is a very good thing.”

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On March 11, Friday, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck northeast Japan, causing a 10-metre high tsunami to devastate its coasts. More than 50 aftershocks followed across Japan, many of them with a magnitude greater than 6.0 on the Ritcher scale.

Cassandra Eng, a third-year NTU communications student currently on exchange in Tokyo, about 372km from the epicentre of the earthquake, writes about her thoughts.

It’s been about 34 hours since the earthquake hit but I feel as if it’s been going on for weeks. Between living on the edge of my seat and dealing with insensitive comments, I’m mentally drained.

None of the things that I had to do following the quake was ever taught in any Singaporean school.

I’ve moved and kept everything heavy and dangerous from my shelves. I’ve packed an emergency bag and stocked up on food. I only dare to lie in bed when I know I am going to give in to exhaustion. I sleep in clothes that I’m ready to run out in. My running shoes are unlaced and placed at the head of my bed next to my emergency bag. I have 4 litres of boiled water in my room and a tub filled with water should the supply be cut. I eat anything and everything that doesn’t require cooking. I don’t want to watch the news but I have to, so I keep it running. I bathe with the news on maximum volume so that I can hear the earthquake alert siren if there is any. I can no longer differentiate between an after tremor and myself just shaking and it scares me because I don’t know when to panic.

I am tired of living in fear.

And yet, I have never loved this country more. Japan has impressed me even more in time of disaster and I cannot respect her people and her preparedness more.

Companies and restaurants are giving out free food and drinks, schools are opened as shelters, free calls, free wireless, free lodging at hotels, and more. People are scared and are all in a rush to go home or make a call, but there’s still order. There is a definitely an increase in demand for food, but there is no rush. Already, money has been raised for those affected by the quake. And the fact that this country has continually aimed for earthquake-proof buildings has saved the lives of so many.

Rescue work is underway and it’s heartbreaking to watch the news. But if there’s any country that can pick itself up from a disaster like this, it’s Japan.

頑張れ日本, I’m praying. Because Tokyo is my city too.

Editor’s note: According to Chinese language daily Lianhe Zaobao, five NTU students are currently on exchange in Japan, with three in Osaka and two in Tokyo. The university has managed to contact all five students.

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For part-time students in NTU juggling work and modules, they can finally heave a sigh of relief.

The government will raise subsidies for students studying part-time for their first degree or diploma, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told parliament in his budget speech today.

This subsidy covers students enrolling at polytechnics, CET (Continuing Education & Training) centres, universities and will benefit some 619 part-time students within NTU.

For their part time courses, these students will receive the same percentage cost subsidy as full-time students.

“For example, it will mean a part-time undergraduate student in an engineering degree at NTU will pay about $14,000 over a five-year course, down from $21,000 currently,” Mr Shanmugaratnam said.

These increased subsidies are part of wider effort by the government to increase the competitiveness of professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), who make up more than half of Singapore’s workforce.

As Singapore restructures its economy over the years to deal with shifting global economic conditions, workers retrain themselves and study part-time to remain competitive.

A small number of part-time undergraduates study in in NTU, fluctuating between around 500 to 700 students over decade while full-time undergraduates surged from 13,318 in 1998 to 23,481 this year.

Today’s budget is presented amidst rising discontent over inflation, high property prices and influx of large number of foreigners citizens in the state. Singapore’s General Elections are due by February 2012 but its widely speculated to take place in the second quarter of this year.

If the General Elections are held this year, most NTU students aged 21 and above will be first-time voters if there is a contest in the constituency they live in. Among the top concerns of NTU students include finding a job after graduation, the value of their degrees, and concerns over influx of foreigners.

At the ministerial forum last year, NTU final-year aerospace engineering student Lim Zi Rui told Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong that many young people no longer feel a sense of ownership or feel comfortable in Singapore because of some policy changes and the influx of foreign talent.

His frank comments was published in many local newspapers, posted in local websites and debated in many forums.

Other budget announcements that might affect NTU students include raised bursaries for undergraduates. Varsity students who get the first tier of bursaries and from the bottom one-third of households will benefit from an 80 percent increase in bursaries, from $1,600 a year currently to $2,900 a year.

These subsidies can cover 40 percent of their fees, and students can finance the rest of the cost with a subsidised loan.

As citizens, NTU students will also receive Growth Dividends ranging from $600-$800 each, as Singaporeans reap some benefits from the 14.5% GDP growth in Singapore’s economy last year.

These measures are part of the government’s attempt to bridge a widening income gap in Singapore.

Low income citizens who live in 3-room or smaller HDB flats will receive $800. The middle-income group who live in HDB flats and low-value private homes will receive $600.

For those who live in more expensive homes but do not have have high incomes, they will still get $300.

For a copy of the budget speech, you can find it here.

NTU students are divided over the news of NTU’s 15-year plan to build a new campus centre equipped with a spanking new cinema, restaurants, and even a pub.

While some applauded the move to bring entertainment right to their doorstep, others are skeptical about the benefits of such a move, preferring the university to advance its academic resources.

One of them is third-year student Tay Xiong Sheng, who wrote to the Straits Times on February 14. He felt the university’s plan is laudable, but it should also address issues such as the quality of lecturers and the faculty-to-student ratio

“NTU is primarily a university. Student welfare and teaching quality must always come first,” he added.

Third-year mechanical engineering student Lee Xiaoyun calls the project a move that “beautifies the school at the cost of the students”.

The 23-year-old doubts that the project will benefit student academically and will not help in attracting prospective students as they usually look at the reputation of the school instead of the facilities.

For others, old perceptions die hard.

NTU has been called a variety of names in allusion to its inaccessible nature, such as ‘ulu’ and ‘pulau NTU’. For students like Cassandra Wang, 21, no amount of cinemas, restaurants, or pubs can increase the appeal of hanging out in a campus tucked in a corner of Singapore.

“I still think it’s cooler to go to town, because town is where all the young people hang out,” the second-year student said. “Only professors and their families will visit the shops. I mean, who on Earth will buy clothes from school unless its a reputable shop?”

Margareth Salim, a year 2 chemistry student feels that the additions are “redundant” as Jurong Point is just a stone’s throw away.

“When you’re so stressed up in NTU, you just want to get out of the pulau and not be trapped inside further. So if I want to chill, I will still go to town,” she said.

However, some students are supportive of the project as it offers more alternatives for students to relax and spend their free time on campus. Student Lim Chao Ching, 23, sees the move as a “step forward for the school”.

“I think it’s welfare for the students, it’s a convenience. After all, it’s built for the students, so I applaud the gesture,” the second-year student said.

Accountancy and business freshman Tan Shenglin, 21, is another fervent supporter of the project. “I think it’s a really good idea, sort of like a convenience for students,” he said. “We’re getting more affluent, then slowly these things become a need, like socializing.”

Both Tan and Lim brushed away concerns about the appropriateness of building a pub on campus.

“We’re all legal adults,” Lim said. “I’m sure we know what’s appropriate and what’s not.”

NTU responded to the three letters written to the Straits Times on Feb 18.

In a letter published on Feb 18 in the Straits Times, NTU’s Acting Chief Building & Infrastructure Officer Chan Keng Luck said that the campus makeover is “primarily driven by academic needs”.

He cited the example the ‘Classrooms of Tomorrow’ in the masterplan where cluster seating, interactive whiteboards and screens are designed to promote group discussion and closer interaction with tutors.

Common spaces on campus will encourage cross-campus interactions, sparking creative ideas and giving rise to new knowledge, he added.

AS IF having to house students from five majors under the School of Humanities & Social Science (HSS) is not straining enough on the HSS library’s seating capacity.

HSS students complain that students from its neighbouring faculties like the Nanyang Business School (NBS) and the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) are ‘hogging’ majority of the seats and computers at the HSS library.

The hogging is evident from the non-HSS study materials lying at the computers and empty study tables for an entire day, said NTU student Lai Junjie who has seen this repeatedly over the semester.

During school hours, it is “nearly impossible” to get a table or use any computer in the library, he lamented. In fact, the third-year sociology major only remembers about three or four occasions in the past year when he actually managed to get a seat during normal school hours.

He makes do with sitting at seats with no tables, and doing his work without the proper backing of a desk.

Articulating his frustration, Lai said: “You can’t work in your own library because it’s filled with non-HSS students. How do you think that makes a lot of us feel?”

However, while he feels that it is unfair to deny students from other faculties the opportunity to do their research in different libraries, it ‘should not be to the academic detriment of HSS students who need these resources and working space for their coursework’.

Soh Yubin, a second-year linguistics and multilingual studies major, agreed and said: “During project seasons we need to use the facilities there to facilitate our work, but most of the time it’s usually hogged, and those people stay there for really long hours.”

Thus, keeping the library for HSS students will help more of them get the right environment and suitable materials during crucial periods, she added.

Computers at the HSS library are in hot demand. Students often visit the library to print assignments, lecture notes and term papers.

However, the second-year Linguistics and Multilingual Studies (LMS) student also acknowledged that it is not impossible to find a seat at the HSS library if one is alone or is willing to share a table with others.

“If you go with your friends, unless you are one of the first to be there in the morning, it can be really difficult,” she said.

The lack of seats in the HSS library has caused many students to look for other study venues further away from their classrooms in the HSS building. They include places like the seminar rooms, laboratories and even at the canteens. Others, like Soh, travel back to the LMS lab to study.

Fourth-year chemistry student at the SPMS, Chan Wei Chuen, expressed his preference for studying at the HSS library because of its environment.

“The study rooms at SPMS are not as conducive as the HSS library,” he said. “(the library) is quieter and it is near to my school.”

Back in 2008, a campus-wide user survey of 4,631 library users in NTU was carried provide feedback on library services. The survey found that lack of library space was seen by users as the weakest point of NTU libraries.

The problem is magnified due to the small size of the HSS library, which is insufficient to serve the needs of the entire HSS student population.

Currently, the HSS library consists of one floor, with 100 seats and 20 computers for the 1,800 HSS students belonging to the Psychology, English, Economics, Linguistics and Sociology faculties.

In comparison, other faculties have libraries which are bigger and more well-equipped. The Chinese library hosts 120 seats and 21 computers for the usage of the 422 Chinese major students.

The Business library spans four floors, providing 422 seats and 126 computers. NBS students number to about 3,000, slightly less than twice the HSS population.

Meanwhile, Deputy University Librarian Ms Isabella Trahn explained that the NTU Library is a system of seven libraries, whose facilities “remain open to all users”.

This is because its resources, either electronic or physical materials and facilities, are bought with university funds.

However, she acknowledged that NTU’s temporary library facilities would remain too small for the immediate future, as its five-year plans for expansion have not come to fruition.

“Any large facility requires a few years from planning to completion and occupation, so the current generation of students will have to live within the constraints of the spaces we currently have,” said Ms Trahn.