Looking at NUS with Block B4 Eyes

Prof. Straughan, Vice Dean in charge of Undergraduate Affairs has emailed me this morning saying that they are aware of the problem and the CORS adminstration are investigating.

Also, the CORS website had this on the front:

Tutorial Allocation Round 1A, Sem 2, 2005-06 Over the weekend, some students reported that they received email messages that they were unsuccessful in their tutorial preferences even though the period for filing preferences has not yet expired. This was an error message and should be ignored. All students should note that tutorial allocation has not been processed yet, and will not be processed till after the deadline, that is, Tuesday 17 Jan 06, 1500 hours. Students who received the error message do not have to take further action as their preferences have not been processed yet. The CORS team is fixing this problem right now. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

So its no biggie. Don’t have to re-arrange my timetable as of yet. Am saving that for Tuesday night.

There’s another reason for students to hate CORS. Right now CORS is in the 2nd Iteration (for non-language modules), Round 1A of tutorial balloting that lasts from Saturday 9.00pm to Tuesday 3.00pm.

However, today (Sunday 15th January 2006) at about 6.00am in the morning, a system generated email was sent to all the students who had balloted for tutorials the previous night. It told students (at least the FASS ones) that none of their ballots were allocated at all. That’s odd, because results only officially come out on Tuesday night. Personally, I wasn’t affected because I hadn’t submitted my ballots yet, and it seems that people that haven’t balloted were not emailed as such.

Nevertheless, when students who were affected returned to CORS, their ballot ranks remained the same. A friend told me that another student has asked the relevant authorities and they said it was a system glitch.

So ignore whatever message you got. But, you’ve probably heard it from your friends already.

A few days ago I posted that I wanted to go for the talk by George Soros on A Global Open Society. A certain Gabriel Seah has written an account of the forum, and here is the link.

From the entire article, the best quote from Prof. Tommy Koh:

I have the pleasure of introducing Mr George Soros… I will begin by saying I do not share Dr Mahathir’s view of him… he might have slightly exaggerated his power, even though he brought down the British Pound a little.

I got my good ol’ friend from my old Junior College to get me tickets to King Edward VII Hall’s annual production, “Fame!” as he was in the cast. Of course when he’s a good ol’ buddy then you’ve got to go watch the play. Anyway, I’m into the whole “Hall Play” thing and critisizing its quality, so I’m killing the proverbial two birds with the proverbial one stone.

Apparently they had some drama with getting the license to stage Fame! and had to creatively reinterpret Fame! so that it didn’t violate too many copyright issues or something like that. Not very sure about that. But, at the bottom of the poster had the caveat:

This play is being produced by special arrangement with the Dramatic Publishing of Woodstock, Illinois.

Anyway, the play details are as follows:

6.30pm onwards on the 14 & 15 January 2006 @ UCC, NUS
Tickets: $15,$18, $50 (charity tickets)

On another hand, there is another event that I would like to attend and that is :

Topic: “George Soros & A Global Open Society: A Dialogue with a New Generation”
Venue: Padang and Canning Ballrooms, Raffles City Convention Centre
Date: Wed 11 January 2006
Time: 2.30pm to 4.30pm
Organised by Institute of South East Asian Studies (ISEAS), this exclusive event will be an interactive session in which a panel of discussants will engage Mr Soros on a variety of topics revolving around the theme “A Global Open Society”.

However, I did not managed to register in time because of the ticketing being first come first serve basis. Dang. Would have been interesting to have a chance to see the alleged architect of the 1997 East Asian Financial Crisis (as accused by Tun Dr. Mahathir a few years back).

After miserably failing to obtain modules in Round 2B of bidding since everything I wanted was past 600 points, I got my senior (a kind senior willing to help out poor ol’ me who forgot to declare his major), to help me choose and strategize my bidding techniques.

In the end this were my results.

——————————————
Allocated Modules
——————————————

Module Code : PS3240
Module Title: INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Module Code : HY2241
Module Title: WHY HISTORY? THE 20TH CENTURY, 1914-1989

Module Code : PS2249
Module Title: GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF SINGAPORE

Module Code : PS2233
Module Title: CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES

—————————————————————–
Modules that are not successfully allocated in this bidding round
—————————————————————–

Module Code : PS2102
Module Title: POLITICAL INQUIRY : AN INTRODUCTION
Reason : Out-bidded

I got HY2241 and PS2249 for 1 point each, International Security for 300 points and Political Ideology for 563 points. From the 1165 programme points I have, I leave about 300 points to bring over for the next semester or to use to obtain 1 more module. I also have not touched my General Account as of yet. Apparently for Contemporary Political Ideology, the minimum bid points in Round 1A is 600 points, so I saved 37 points! However, International Security most people got in for 1 point compared to my 300 points. Its a net loss, I tell you.

I wasn’t keen on taking HY2241 but brushing up on contemporary history is good and Alvin says its a good course. In the end I took up International Security too because, well, it just fits in to the plan. The Philosophy Modules are quite a loss actually, because the vacancies are in low supply, causing the the price of the module to go up. Simple economics really.

And friends tell me that they spent 5 points this semester. Bugger.

Okay, its time to be part of the module bidding frenzy. Round 1B begins tomorrow morning, and 2A, 10pm at night. It seems that for Political science modules this semester the points are slightly elevated due to the lower number of politics modules (shortage causes the price to rise, simple economics). This was my original plan for my modules:

PS3240 International Security
PS2102 Political Inquiry
PS2233 Contemporary Political Ideology
PH2202 Major Political Philosophers
PH2208 Applied Ethics

I am going for a Political Theory / International Relations focus on my studies, with a bit of Philosophy thrown into the side. This pack of modules leads to a five day working week, one lecture a day.

However, the exam schedule for the above subjects work out to be:
Political Inquiry, 22nd Apr AM;
International Security, 2nd May AM;
Applied Ethics, 2nd May PM;
Comtemp. Pol. Ideology, 4th May PM;
Major Pol. Philosophers, 4th May Evening;

One of my seniors also tell me that I shouldn’t take International Security this semester because Dr. Bilveer Singh has been substituted by Dr. Khoo How San this semester round. Furthermore, the exam schedule is very demanding so I decide to defer it to another semester.

So my final bidding decisions come down to replacing International Security with a Level 2000 Political Science module:

• Dr. Kripa’s Foreign Policy and Diplomacy is ruled out - that would place THREE exams on a single day. But its good to know it is possible to schedule three exams on the same day;
• A/P Hussin Mutalib’s Government and Politics of Singapore is ruled out - the lecture is the same time as major political philosophers;
• I am not keen on Contemporary Chinese Politics by Dr. Chen An and Dr. Kun Chin-Lin;
• Neither am I keen on Government and Politics of South East Asia by A/P Hussin Mutalib and Dr. Jamie Davidson;
• That leaves me with Dr. Rappa’s Globalization and Politics, who is notorious for being biased towards female students (but that’s just a rumour, Viewfromb4 does not claim to its veracity).

Either the Government and Politics of South East Asia or Globalization and Politics will fit in without a hitch in my schedule.

Ladies and Gentlemen, its that very wonderful time of the year again! Module bidding has already started, and so far I’ve been excluded from the frenzy because I forgot to declare my major. Geez. I hope that’s not a biggie or else I will not economize on points if I bid in the next round. Seems that one of my modules that I want to take up may cost at least 600 points, as of Round 1A had only 10 places allocated and my friends who were bidding for it had not received it even with 600 points.

Anyway, my module management and planning is long due.

Another big one that’s coming up is the Interhall Games frenzy. Temasek Hall has invested in putting up a really large banner, outside on the side of Block D for the buses that pass by and for all to see. Above the walkway to the Communal Hall, there’s another smaller banner too. In the communal hall itself, a scoreboard (currently empty) has been put up. If I’m not mistaken, at the noticeboard of every block floor an IHG calendar has been put up.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting a friend at Raffles Hall and managed to observe what they have been doing. They’ve put up this display in their dining hall, of which they enshrine their three greatest sportsmen, with their photos in sporting action, and a brief write-up on their histories which encourage the boarders to come support these Sports Gods. My friend tells me they’re really god-like, participating in many sports and excelling in most of them.

I’ve been going for touch rugby practice anyway, and have been by far, neglecting my running, which I am not please at myself at all. Must be these games I’ve been playing on my computer. However, once my team and I get our game on with the touch rugby, it will be super fun. Personally I feel that the whole team just needs more play time, especially the new Year 1s with no rugby experience (read: me) and we need the time to adapt ourselves to real play situations and lose them jitters to really get down to using the techniques we drill ourselves so much. Trainings are always in the heat of day: 10-12pm, or 2-4pm, so I am getting quite tanned, which is good anyway.

Will post up the photos of the banners.

If some of you had not noticed, there is a statement on the Corporatization of NUS on the NUS website itself. It needs some sort of user authentication to enter, so it may not be publically disclosed information itself. Suffice to say, the university will “corporatize” beginning 1st April 2006 (April Fools’ Day!).

But this is how its going to be:

From the sub-site:
NUS will be incorporated as a university company limited by guarantee, with its own Board of Trustees. The current Council will form the inaugural Board of Trustees. Subsequent appointments of Trustees will be made by the Minister for Education.

NUS will sign a Policy Agreement and Performance Agreement with MOE. The Performance Agreement will set out the strategic directions, goals and programmes agreed between the University and MOE. MOE will be enhancing the accountability framework for universities and would be monitoring NUS’ progress in achieving our strategic goals.

Find out more at the sub-site on NUS Corporatization itself.

The NUS website is really a hassle to use. Its sprawling and big, and you have to sift through a lot of pages to actually find what you’re looking for.

I realised I missed out on declaring my major during the first major-declaring period. And module bidding starts on 27th December 2005, right after Boxing Day, with the university authorities citing this semester’s congestion in bidding to be the primary reason for bringing forward the bidding. Other changes include an increase in closed bidding time by 2 hours and a corresponding decrease in open bidding time FOR ROUND 1A and 2A. Read the official announcement here.

I’ve been playing around with the idea of writing an economic paper with Game Theory implications with CORS as an example. However, I lack a great amount of knowledge on game theory and economics, but nonetheless its would be interesting to see it happen. But from the release statement, here are some interesting, and probably well-known facts.

According to our records, transactions peak especially when open bidding transits to close bidding for critical rounds.
For Semester 2, 2005-06, a trial will be adopted to give more time for the system to recover from any problems arising from the heavy traffic. Please note that the open bidding period for Rounds 1A and 2A has been reduced by 2 hours and the period for close bidding for those rounds has been correspondingly extended by 2 hours.

Watch out for lectures that fall on Tuesdays, apparently it falls on a public holiday next semester and you cannot “sample” the lecture and later change it on CORS.

Students should note that for Semester 2, 2005-06 and subsequent semesters, it will not be possible to sample-evaluate lectures that coincide with public holidays; students will not be able to bid for another module as replacement if they subsequently find them unsuitable.

Anyway, this is how to get to the page with all the future, next semester modules.
CORS Main > Modules Info

Then click on your respective faculties “Timetable” link. For FASS students, click on
FASS Timetable > Class Timetable for Semester 2 AY2005-2006

This last page does not list modules for Singapore Studies, General Education, or Breath modules. Its another link below i.e. Timetables.

You can also check the individual department websites for the modules that you want to take.

For your reading interest, these are the modules that I’m planning to take:
PH2202 MAJOR POLITICAL PHILOSOPHERS*
PH2208 APPLIED ETHICS**
PS2102 POLITICAL INQUIRY : AN INTRODUCTION
PS2249 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF SINGAPORE*
PS2233 CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES

I was thinking of taking TS1101E INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE STUDIES or some English Literature module on Film like EN2113 READING FILM AND CULTURAL TEXTS but I heard that the theatre studies module is being taught by not-very-desirable tutors the next semester so I’m not giving it a go, and I’m not too sure about the Reading FIlm text, rather have Introduction to Film Studies.

*Lectures occupy the same time. Damn.
**Lecture is on a Friday, which I really don’t want it to be on.

In the papers, on Nov 22, 2005:

Way Cleared for NUS, NTU to launch major makeover
by Jane Ng, The Straits Times, Nov 22 2005 Front Page

“… Three bills passed in Parliament yesterday give the National University of Singapore and Nayang Technological University the same autonomy that the third university, Singapore Management University has enjoyed.

NUS and NTU will no longer be statutory boards but will become not-for-profit companies like SMU…

… The government would continue to fund 75% of undergraduate education. Fee increases have to be approved by the Education Ministry and will be capped at 10% a year.

… The government will be active in ensuring high standard via a series of frameworks with the universities. These will cover the universities admission policies, tuition fees, and government funding for teaching and research.

… A change in culture is now needed to produce the intellectual climate and buzz so that faculty students and management spur each other on to produce top quality research and teaching, said the minister.

… The people are in place but that’s not good enough, you need to forge a new culture… a new internal culture with the right interplay between top-down strategy initiatives decided by the top management and the board of trustees and the bottom-up ideas that have to bubble up from the staff or even from students.”

Why am I getting the feeling that they’re trying really hard to avoid the word privatization? Too much negative connotation, perhaps? A few advantages I can think of: the government is one step further away from the student body, so that’s good. Government’s let go of the university administration, that’s good for decentralization, provided it works. I don’t think it will work out to become the case of private tertiary institutions in Malaysia (read: profit making only). Its not the case of whether they will stop teaching certain “unpopular” subjects, its the case of some of them deterioating very badly. Worse Case Scenario: NUS will become a crassly commercial institution. Billboards and advertising everywhere. People trying to make money out of everything you do. Worst case scenario: university can’t make money, charges students a lot, facilities fail. But that’s just conjecture. (anyway the government did are still going to fund the students, that’s just a removed form of funding.) If anything, I will know the first-hand implications of the policy change as a freshman in NUS.

But I like the words that he uses. Intellectual climate. Bottom-up. This is what this blog is about! Hot stuff. But notice he said “Bottom-up ideas” instead of bottom-up initiatives. Bottom-up initiatives rock. Bottom-up initiatives are the embodiment of civil society and entrepreneurship. You want that, you let it breathe. But I don’t know if I’m reading it too deeply. Did the Education Minister say that because he’s not so much in favour of bottom-down inititatives, or he’s just finding a different word so that the speech isn’t so repetitive?

Alright, the stories continued in the Home section of the Straits Times. Basically its about 6 MPs questioning the Education Minister Tharman Shamugaratnam for answers when three Bills were passed giving universities more autonomy.

The Price of a University Education
by Peh Shing Huei and Aaron Low, The Straits Times Nov 22 2005, Home Section, H2

Dr. Lily Neo, a/p Ong Soh Kim, Mr. Ang Mong Seng and Dr. Loo Choon Yong:
Since corporatised universities can set tuition fees within limits set byt he Minsitry of Education, will fees rise so much that tertiary education becomes the privilege of the rich?

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: The government will continue to fund 75% of undergraduate education, while 40% of the cost of their new projects will be funded by a ministry grant. Fees increases must be approved by the ministry and will be capped at no more than 10% a year…

Dr. Neo and Professor Ong:
[edited out]…Will this lead to certain disciplines being removed because of a lack of market demand?

No, it is ultimately parents and students who decide what subjecst they want to study. “We are not going to stop providing places in history, in geography, in literature, in economics, in the social sciences more broadly. We think its essential for the national economy.”

In fact, it could be more important in the furure for engineers and scientists to be exposed to the humanities, “as we move up the knowledge curve and a they have to deal with a lot more ambiguity in their jobs.”…

“We are not doing too badly. We have our humanities scheme, a University Scholars scheme, we have NUS that places great emphasis on the humanities and we will keep pushing along, particularly in ensuring that students get this cross-disciplinary education that we think is very important regardless of whether you are going to become a scientist or a lawyer.”

Dr. Neo and Prof. Ivang Png:
[edited out again] … Do universities here have academic freedom?

… “It would not be there [NUS as top social sciences university in Asia] if it did not have academic freedom in the social sciences.”

But freedom is not an absolute. “Race and religion are matter in which we will not want to see eithe racademics or any members of the public stirring up discord. I don’t know if you call it an OB marker, but we’ve always been very clear about that and it has not bothered the universities. They’ve understood this. They have understood this is a fundamental tenet of Singapore [sic] society.”

[Article goes on]

Okay, its too much of a hassle here to type out the rest word for word. And I have a problem with the journalistic style, I think the jump-in-comment-jump-out style of the journalist makes it hard to intepret what the minister is actually saying, and I nearly interpreted their “explanations” as his own words. Misleading. There are other things also in the article, but its the last two questions that I have a problem with. Okay, the following is my personal view. Got a problem with it, argue with me.

#1: Education Minister Mr. Shanmugaratnam said that ultimately parents and students who decide what subjects they’re going to study THEREFORE certain disciplines will not be dropped because of a lack of market demand. I disagree and I like to think that he is skirting the question. Now, three universities is really just an oligopoly, and still operates on a close-to-monopoly market structure. That means that there is no supply curve in which people can choose the supplier in case the other supplier doesn’t provide a differentiated product. That means, the universities get to choose what gets taught i.e. what gets studied, not the parents or the students. If he says that the government is not going to stop providing, then there’s no real autonomy, is there? Looking at what the journalists said, “if it could be more important in future for engineers and scientists to be exposed to the humanities,” it almost feels like the arts and social science has been relegated to a secondary extension of the university, not an actual part, means-to-an-end kind of thing.

#2 Freedom of speech time! Is it reasonable to say that if NUS did not have academic freedom, then we wouldn’t have become the #1 Social Science university in Asia? Lets remember the Warwick incident. They pulled out because they didn’t want to agree to a clause that they couldn’t intefere with local politics, loosely speaking. I don’t think that academic freedom is good for being the top social science university. What I think its good for social involvement in influencing how society is shaped through academic thought. Remember, academic thought is supposed to be rational and well-substantiated, and this is supposed to be the mechanism from preventing people from outrightly protesting. If you don’t like it, write back against it. Once this freedom to engage the public is robbed of the academia, the social sciences feel hollow and empty, like its life has been robbed dry. The social sciences are there to make society better. (Lets just hope people are big enough to face criticism and controversy. Let alone the truth.)

And the fundamental tenets of Singapore are OB markers? Great. I for myself would like to see civilized discussion about religion and race now that the world is facing the threat of international terrorism that seems to have a lot pertaining religion and race. I would like to raise my viewpoint of other races and religions, and be corrected of my misconceptions, and have other people’s misconceptions corrected in a civilised manner. But the OB marker is scaring everybody to death about it. So no-go for my dreams. But I guess some people can’t handle the responsibility of framing their sentences in a considerate way, and some people can’t handle the responsibility of understand how people can be such irresponsible idiots. Yeah, freedom of speech also entails tolerance of idiotic, scathing, anti-religious viewpoints.

One last point: See the government spin? Its “more autonomy”, not “privatization”. Or is it not really privatization? I thought it is when it says not-for-profit companies.

But overall, I like more autonomy. I’m more or less all for it. Civil society!

Yes, the 22nd of each month was declared fruits and vegetables day by the Health Promotion Board of Singapore, and the university in support has put up a virtual poster on the Message of the Day default pop-up promoting F&V Day. This month we learn about Fats & Oils. It says we should make most of our fat sources come from fish, nuts and vegetable oil. We should also limit solid fats like buter, stick margarine, shortening and lard. Then they give a whole science lecture on fats and oils that probably no one in NUS will read or they probably already know it because they took a food science or chemistry module.

Alright, all of you. EAT vegetables and fruits now!

Okay, we are officially knee deep in exams right now. The paper that I had today was Introduction to Economics (EC1101E). It was quite a tough paper, everybody was complaining that they didn’t finish the paper, or that they had very little idea what was going on in the paper itself. One weird thing was the invigilators took 25 minutes to collect and count the papers. That’s almost 1/4 of the examination period wasted on administration. On the bright side, everybody was dead silent in the hall waiting for the release call. I like the discipline.

One thing that bothered me was how slow the human traffic was when the exams finished. I would suggest that everybody try to move along as quickly as possible from the examination area and leave the discussion to another place or time. Especially when there were two major examinations going in the same building, it would mean nearly a thousand people cramming in the same hallway. So do your bit, try not to stand around blocking traffic while talking to your friends about how badly you did, that you’re going to get a D, I’m sorry worried about it, what’s the answer for this question, et cetera. Leave the area and then do it.

I will tolerate having to crowd around before the exam. That cannot be helped. Everybody will naturally arrive early for the exams and probably will stay close enough to quickly enter the examination hall when the doors swing open. I know I can actually find out what seat number I was allocated through the NUS website, but being the sprawling, bulky, impossible-to-navigate techno-beareaucratic website it is, the page is nigh impossible to locate. I just arrived early and looked at the printouts displayed right in front of the hall. No problem.

Its also a wonder what people wear to examination halls. I believe in decorum during examinations, partially because it gets me in the mood but also because it gives an impression that you are serious about it. But then again, impression doesn’t matter during the exam, doesn’t it? Then again again, I see girls putting on a lot of make up for the exam itself. Its just that I see examinations as a formal event. Put on some shoes and wear something that covers your knees, dammit. This is an exam hall, not a coffee shop.

Other things of note: The forum bookshop always has long lines at the cashiers! Why is that? I tried the iced coffee at the drinks stall in YIH. Definitely much better than the one at Arts Canteen. And I’m planning to write an article about block facilities.

Maybe my conjecture that more people are staying over the weekend during the exams isn’t actually true. It would really depend on the exam schedule.

My first paper is tomorrow, hope I get to a good start.

The hall is relatively quiet at times, with most of everybody studying hard either in their rooms or whatever communal areas there are.

But let me tell you sometimes its not really all that great if you get a double room right smack in the middle of a floor of seniors. A floor of sportsmen. A floor of ex-NS men. They tend to stay in their clique, save for the friendliness of individuals who tend to be friendly and a few other stragglers not in the clique.

They were making a lot of noise after dinner today. As usual, they were kicking a ball, shouting and screaming. A friend said that they could hear them from A block. My roommate, who really works hard, got kinda pissed. This wasn’t the first time they made such noise and at times it was worse. They used to have “parties” at 2am. But I’ll tolerate it if it was Week 1 or Week 12. But definitely not at this period of time.

So they were kicking the ball and the ball rolled its way in the direction of our room. We got a loud “CHEE BYE” screamed right outside the room. My roommate was NOT very happy with it, and went to address them with a few expletives of his own.They told us to close the door, but its true that the walls and doors don’t muffle sounds very well. They did comply in the end.

In other news, back down in level B1, somebody set up a Cosy Corner, with papers stuck to the wall writing “Cosy Corner”, two stools and squat little table. I bet they use it to drink and play cards. Will have a photograph sometime in the future.

Edit nov19: Chang pointed out they don’t. But I bet its a great place to… except that its in front of the RF’s flat.

Edit Nov22: Chang: Biscuits are free btw. Have some while u walk by nxt time ^^ Korner is 4 us to sit ard and-beep- ard while having biscuits. Great place to watch eusoff girls walking past too ^^

And mark it that Thursdays the caterer serves Western food. The main course is either chicken chop, fish fillet, braised chicken wing, or maybe fried chicken. Its served with additional servings of baked beans, mash potatoes, and a sandwich. I particularly do not like the fish fillet.

Weirdly enough, the story on the NUS residential college ran the same day with the State of The University address by the NUS president. Looks like he talked to the press about it before hand.

And another thing: the article next to the residential college was about a student who lived in a “Residential” college in the US and praised it well and far. I can’t stand it if there is an initiative and right next to it is praise. It just doesn’t belong next to it. It feels like deliberate propaganda.

But superficially the residential college will solve one problem: the stratification of education levels within NUS. Besides the halls, the undergraduate, post-graduate and lecturers are not allowed to reside in the same building. One of my tutors was not allowed to stay in PGP. I think graduates and post-graduates should be allowed to mingle more casually.

The half-hour long State of the University address by the NUS President Professor Shih Choon Fong boldly introduced the new directions the university is taking up. There will be two radical changes to the university, the first being the building of the concept of a “university town”. Officially termed, residential college, learning and living will fuse together, and students and graduates will “learn from peers from around the world beyond tutorials and lectures, without walls.”

The residential college will complement the current student residential facilities, namely the halls of residences and Prince George’s Park residences. The residential college will house another 6,000 students and will be built at the what was formerly known as the Warren Golf Course (currently Transview Golf Site). The site is across the highway from the UCC and opposite the NUS High School site. From streetdirectory.com, its apparently right next to the main NUS campus. Click here to see it for yourself.

Professor Shih and other members of the NUS administration officially launched the residential college project at the end of the speech.

Another change that the university is moving in is a flexibility in budget, or what Professor Shih terms a rolling budget. Each faculty will receive a core budget, but will have to compete among themselves for additional funds according to the merits of its proposed activities. Professor Shih explicitly mentioned that S$30 million will be set aside for deserving proposals.

Besides the radical changes, he mention a few things on the direction and goals of the university. He asked a few questions about the university 20 years in the future? “Will the culture of excellence permeate every level of our community? Will we realize our vision of a global knowledge enterprise? Will NUS be distinguished by vibrant and supportive talent?” He used the analogy of a Forest of Talents , comparing its diversity and strength to his vision of the state of the university. He also gave an example of Nokia and its originating country, Finland and how each stayed competitive and relevant to the global economy. He encouraged “more risky research” which will have a greater impact on the world.

But besides the usual building up of students to be globally competitive, he encouraged undergraduates to cultivate a “no-walls culture”. He said that “talent flourishes without walls or restraints,” and that each of us must be challenged to break down the walls of our minds. “let us have the courage to break down walls and live without them.”

Here’s an observation of mine. This is an affirmation of the importance of positive liberty in the role of academic and intellectual development by the NUS President. I will take his meaning as that because Warwick University turned down the opportunity to set up a branch here in Singapore because of the restrictions imposed by the Singaporean government. This is effectively a limit on the negative freedom of academia. The role of minimal limits of negative freedom in promoting expanding positive freedom is quite clear: people will be discouraged to break down their own walls if there are institutionalised limits. So this is for you to think: is this part of the speech ironic, a mere lip service to liberal ideology? Or is it an indication that the university wants less limits on their freedom?

On a smaller note, the university acapella group, Resonance, performed two songs prior to the address. I’m not sure if we are such suckers for entertainment. Are they trying to balance out the “boring” formal speech with “lively” performances?