NUS, an unfree university, really?

Some of you all may be aware that an exchange student from Yale wrote an article, based on his observations during his stay in Singapore, asserting that there is no student freedom at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Expectedly, this article attracted what may be described as a flood of comments - some agreeing with the author's assertion and others rebutting him. And on Facebook, partly due to the fact that I am a recent Political Science graduate from NUS, I have been privy to the sharing and rebutting of the article by my fellow NUS Political Science students and by NUS Political Science professors.

As several others have already cogently refuted the article, I shall only say that, in my opinion, the author of the article has made several sweeping and damning conclusions based only on rather superficial observations.

For those of you all who are interested, what follows below are two of the critiques of the article, besides the comments (which are well worth the time reading through) made on the article's website, I have seen online so far.

i) "From Singapore: a defence of Yale's partnership"

ii) "A letter to Max de La Bruyère, Editor-in-Chief of Yale Daily News" (notably, this was written by Mr. Bernard Chen Jiaxi who is Secretary of the Workers' Party Youth Wing)

I perhaps may be biased but in my opinion, although NUS is not perfect or the most free university around, it is not as bad or unfree as some may think it is.


P.S. It may perhaps no longer be there but one of my more vivid memories of the NUS Political Science Honours Students Room was the Reform Party/JBJ commemorative poster that was affixed onto one of the walls in the room. So NUS, an unfree university, really?

P.P.S. 30/1/2012

Came across this other Facebook note on the issue by another exchange student from the US: "Academic Freedom at the National University of Singapore".

Another post by another exchange student from the US: "Academic Freedom is Alive in Singapore".

Going Beyond Salaries

I guess this post may be somewhat belated or will perhaps contribute no new insights now that the debate (at least the one in Parliament) over how much Singapore's political office-holders should be paid is over. However, reading Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong's comments in his 2012 Chinese New Year message on what the government will do to encourage Singaporeans to have more children, I cannot help but notice the disparity in the reasoning he used for this issue and the reasoning he used for the political office-holders salaries review.

Specifically, in his 2012 Chinese New Year message, the PM pointed out that in order to encourage Singaporeans to have more children, the "critical factor is not more financial incentives, but creating the supportive social climate and attitudes that will encourage couples to have more children".

Now, perhaps they are two distinctly separate issues but in my opinion, what the PM said above about what is needed to encourage Singaporeans have more children is perhaps also applicable to the issue of how much local political office-holders should be paid.

As many of you all would be aware, the government's reasoning of why political office-holders need to be paid competitive (i.e. high) salaries is premised on how these salaries need to be attractive enough to attract competent individuals to enter into politics and subsequently take up political office. However, as others and I (in an earlier post) have pointed out, while monetary remuneration can be a factor in individuals' consideration about whether to enter into politics, it is perhaps not the only or most important factor.

Indeed, beyond depending solely on offering competitive salaries, it is perhaps also necessary that, for example, initiatives be put in place to inculcate a greater sense of public spirit in people so as to encourage more people to enter into politics, regardless of the salary level.

Admittedly, these initiatives may require more effort, take longer to bear fruit and the results more uncertain. But I suppose such initiatives will be much better for Singapore in the long-term and generate much less antipathy.

In the end, while it is true that men cannot live without bread, men too do not and should not live only for bread. 

I am going to Las Vegas for 24 months

First and foremost, I want to clarify that I am not really going to Las Vegas for 24 months. The title of this blog post is referring to an internet meme which has been spreading on Facebook these few days. I got to know about this meme when a female friend of mine posted the following on her Facebook Wall (she apparently gotten it from someone else):

Okay pretty ladies, it's that time of year again...support of breast Cancer Awareness!! Some of you may already seen this one, but I've not, hence am playing along. So we all remember last year's game of writing your bra color as your status? Or the way we like to have our handbag handy? Last year, so many people took part that it made national news and the constant updating of status reminded everyone why we're doing this and helped raise awareness!!! Do NOT tell any males what the statuses mean... ... keep them guessing!! And please copy and paste (in a message) this to all your female friends! The idea is to choose the month you were born and the day you were born. Pass this on to the GIRLS ONLY and lets see how far it reaches around. The last one about the bra went around all over the world.

Your status should say:

"I am going to ______________for___________ months."

The month you were born is where you are going and the day you were born should be for how many months you are going.

January--Mexico
February-- London
March--Miami
April--Dominican Republic
May--France
June-- St. Petersburg
July--Austria
August--Germany
September--New York
October-Amsterdam
November--Las Vegas
December--Colombia

Read more »

UNICEF: "How come Santa Claus has nothing to do this Christmas?"

This Christmas - Don't buy gifts

Donate UNICEF Inspired Gifts to children in need instead

113 years old Teresa Hsu - Wisdom for all ages

"One man asked me why - why don't you stay at home, enjoy yourself instead of going around 20 people. I said if I eat food by myself, I alone 'ha ha chiou' (laugh). If I share with 20 people, 21 people 'ha ha chiou'. You see, my joy is multiplied 21 times" -- Teresa Hsu/许哲

施比授更有福。

"The more we do for other people, the more the path of our own happiness will open up" -- Daisaku Ikeda

Neither Slut Nor St. Madonna

Recently, I had a discussion of sorts with Laicite over the issue of how women should dress. Looking through the back-and-fro she and I had, I think it is worthwhile and necessary for me to elaborate on my thoughts on the issue and perhaps arrange them in a more coherent form.

I must firstly state that I, in principle, support the right and freedom of women to wear whatever (even nothing) they want. However, I believe that such a right or freedom is one which should be exercised with discretion.

But before I move on to elaborate on what I mean with the above, I want to point out that it seems to me that when it comes to this issue of how women should dress, people, like in other issues, tend perhaps to adopt a us-versus-them or black-versus-white approach to understanding it. By this, I refer to how people are typecasted into being either "liberals" who will have women go around in skimpy attire, if not no clothing at all, or hardcore "conservatives" who will have women totally covered up, if not implement a roll-back of all the rights and freedoms currently enjoyed by women. The voice of the moderate seems to be absent from this debate. Hopefully, this blog post of mine will contribute towards filling this gap.

Read more »

ST: "Singapore is not yet truly multicultural" -- AP Alatas

Recently, on 9 Nov 2011, The Straits Times (ST) published an interview with Associate Professor (AP) Syed Farid Alatas on how although Singapore is a multi-cultural country, in the sense that there are people from many different cultures residing in Singapore, it is not yet truly multi-culturalist.

In view of the Jason Neo incident, I think it is worthwhile to re-read the interview article.

Quotable quotes from the interview article...

I mean, how many Chinese in Singapore have an interest in Malay culture, Islamic civilisation, its arts and poetry? And how many Malays have an interest in the achievements of Chinese civilisation?

 "To put it bluntly, the Malays are seen as a relatively underdeveloped community." There have been decades of writing since the 19th century, and also political or media discourse, that fault Islam as "a brake on development", he [AP Alatas] contends.

"Until today, many people associate Islam with Malay backwardness, and consequently see Islam as a backward religion," he says. 

The idea that progress and integration could possibly come about if Malays are "less religious" persists in Singaporean thinking, he adds.

 "I don't think it's a fading perception because the majority of non-Muslims don't know much about the Malay community and culture, and Islam."

The Malays themselves have myths that the Chinese are "cold, calculating and money-minded", he adds.