This year, FASS Club bagged the Silver Award at the annual NUS Students’ Union (NUSSU) Rag & Flag 2015.
Unlike in previous years, Rag Day 2015 was held on a grand scale at The Float @ Marina Bay in conjunction with the nation’s Jubilee celebrations as well as NUS 110th anniversary. The theme was “Where I Belong – To be with the People”, deviating from the regular narrative themes that bound past Rag Day competitions. This allowed more room for interpretation, expression and creativity.
FASS Club’s storyline for its float display and performance features various architectural landmarks that resonate with the modern Singaporean.
A lot of thought and time were put into the arrangements of the floats and dance. As such, preparations were well underway as early as September last year – starting out with a recruitment drive for participants.
Nicholas Tan Jing Wen, chairperson of the Freshmen Orientation Programme says, “Preparations for this year required far more specialist knowledge, as this was the first year in a long time that the Rag Committee has had to put up a night performance. This meant that previously neglected components of performance such as lighting, sound quality and videography had to be taken into account.”
Moving the float components into the delivery truck
Moving the float components to the stage
“Additionally, the external venue meant we had to increase the durability of our floats. Concerns such as transportation of the items, modular design and even luminosity of the paint had to be taken into account,” he added.
The planning and construction of the float only began last December and May this year respectively. In May, the number of helpers doubled as the freshmen were able to help.
As much as possible the Club tried to incorporate the use of recycled materials, gathered from collection drives, at every stage of the construction process. The structure of the float comprised recycled metal L-bars and cardboards while numerous Yakult bottles and newspapers formed the intricate patterns that injected more life to the floats.
In total, a 13-member Rag Committee, 18 float engineers and 38 dancers were involved in the entire process. The result was a dazzling float display and a spectacular dance performance that wowed the spectators that night.
HDBs
Spot the FASS Building
Gardens by the Bay
Iconic Singapore Playground
The Singapore Flyer
Dance rehearsal with the props
FASS Club takes the stage at Rag Day Competition 2015
In an article contribution, Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser, Department of Psychology, highlighted that the concerns of the sandwiched generation and the middle class will matter in GE 2015 and that the perceived hardships arising from issues such as housing, healthcare and the pursuit of upward social mobility could affect the People’s Action Party (PAP) Government’s track record, notwithstanding its efforts to address them over the past four years.
Assoc Prof Tan opined that Singaporeans may not turn away from the PAP because of the highlighted issues. However, a re-elected PAP will need to explore new ways to ensure that the notion of “the good life” is attainable while keeping true to the fundamentals of economics.
He added that while the undecided votes may still prefer the PAP Government, they may be inclined to cast their vote to the opposition instead – resulting in a freak election.
He hopes that Singaporeans will vote for the party that can help Singapore stay afloat and steam ahead and not squander the advantages and resources we have acquired over the last 50 years.
In the autumn of 2014, I arrived at King’s College London (KCL or King’s for short) under its Joint PhD Degree Programme with NUS. Located in Central London by the side of River Thames, King’s is a vibrant academic community and the home of more than 10 Nobel Laureates. My stay in London and study at KCL have been a fruitful and eye-opening experience.
Year-end lunch organized by King’s Interdisciplinary Social Science for its members.
One feature I think very positively about King’s academic community is that the links across departments are strong and the boundaries are almost nonexistent. For example, although I was officially hosted by the China Institute for the Joint Degree Programme, I was able to appoint a professor from the Department of Management as my main supervisor because of the close proximity between my research and his. The King’s Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (KISS-DTC) was established with the aim to build links for social scientists across the college. Soon after I arrived at King’s, I became a member of the KISS-DTC and benefited a lot from the methodological training I received at the center. In the process, I also got to know and became friends with many doctoral students from other disciplines of social science.
Celebrating the 2015 Chinese New Year with the classmates of King’s College London
Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria. Taken during the 2015 European Political Science Assoiation Annual Meeting
During my time at King’s, in addition to researching for my dissertation, I had the opportunity to audit two modules on European political economy and public policy. The insight gained from the modules complements my current research very well. Given that I focus on monetary policy, the case of the European Monetary Union has greatly enhanced my understanding of the topic and at the same time, poses many theoretically challenging questions for me to reflect on. Furthermore, these materials are very useful for a political economy module that I am currently teaching at NUS, as they allow me to introduce a European perspective to a mostly Asian audience.
IAPSS World Congress 2015, Birkbeck College, University of London
One good thing about studying at King’s is that one automatically has University of London. That brings about much more opportunities and resources beyond KCL itself. When I was at King’s, I often walked across the (highly dangerous) road to attend seminars at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), talk to the scholars in my field of study or visit the British Library of Economics and Political Science (the LSE library). Moreover, the geographical location of London makes academic conferences in Europe much more accessible and affordable. Within the academic year, I managed to attend three conferences held in Jerusalem, London and Vienna. At the conferences, I received valuable feedback for my research and greatly expanded my social network.
Academic conference at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University
In front of the International Court of Justice (Peace Palace), The Hague, The Netherlands
My life in London was certainly not all about academics. During my free time, I often walked along River Thames and visited the parks and the museums of London. On weekends, I could travel to other places in the UK for sightseeing or join my friends studying at Oxford or Cambridge. In addition, I also travelled to other European countries such as France and the Netherlands for slightly longer holidays during my stay in London. The marvel of the European culture and civilization only not opened my eyes and mind, but also constantly made me reflect on themes such as humanity, modernity and scientific progress.
Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France
Louvre Palace, Paris, France
St. John’s College, Cambridge University, where Mr. and Mrs. Lee Kuan Yew took their photos three times in their lives.
Today, when people ask me what I miss about London and the UK, I can easily give them a long list, which includes, among other things, the vibrancy and diversity of the society, the splendid culture, the spirit of the Industrial Revolution that continues to inspire us today, as well as the Green and Pleasant Land, the British sense of humor and the aphrodisiac accent. Virginia Woolf, a famous modernist English writer and alumna of King’s College London once wrote: “London itself perpetually attracts, stimulates, gives me a play and a story and a poem…” That is, I think, the most accurate and vivid summary of my memory of London.
A marvel of art on the bank of River Thames, an embodiment of British creativeness
Big Ben and red telephone box, two icons of London
In an article contribution, Associate Professor Thang Leng Leng, Head of the Department of Japanese Studies, discussed the responsibilities of an educator and echoes their hopes of seeing students progress and go a mile further.
Dr Priya Maholay-Jaradi, South Asian Programme, had launched the edited book titled “Baroda: A Cosmopolitan Provenance in Transition” at the Laxmi Vilas Palace in India.
The 156-page long book explores the princely state of Baroda as a hub of art production. It contains 130 illustrations, photographs of the monuments in the city from the 19th century, market places and images of both walled city area and the newly developed parts of the city contributed by prominent artists, art critics and scholars.
Students from the FASStrack Asia Summer School course in human trafficking recently returned from a 11-day field trip to Cambodia and Thailand.
The field trip was a great learning experience as it provided opportunities for them to do hands-on research and interviews. Besides being able to apply theories learnt in the increasingly popular module, the trip involved meetings with government officials, representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and victims in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia, as well as Bangkok and Mahachai.
Department of Political Science Dr Kevin McGahan who led the field trip added that the students’ research projects and policy recommendations will be shared with the people and organisations they’ve met during the trip.
The report highlights China’s struggle in coping with a rapidly ageing society and a rising number of elderly who are living by themselves. Despite government efforts to offer social protection and extend pensions, the welfare system is still ill-equipped to help this particular group of solo dwellers. This is because more parents are living apart from their children and are not able to help the elderly.
Department of Sociology Professor Jean Yeung opined that in a state that still regards filial piety as a defining feature of their culture, those who are not recipients of it often feel ashamed and isolated.
In this article on the rising number of young Chinese individuals who choose to live by themselves, Department of Sociology Professor Jean Yeung shares her research findings in a research collaboration with Adam Ka-Lok Cheung of The Hong Kong Institute of Education.
Statistics have shown that the number of one-person households make up 14% of households in China. The percentage is significantly low as compared to Japan’s and Taiwan’s rates but is expected to rise in the coming years.
Our heartiest congratulations to three Department of Communications & New Media students – Desmond Koh, Celine Leong and Chng Yan – for the unprecedented achievement at the Future News Competition, an international competition for aspiring journalists.
All three students scooped the top three places at the competition and will be headed for a three-day, fully-paid journalism conference in Edinburgh this month. There, they will meet leading journalists and learn more about multi-media reporting and editing.
The students who undertook the module NM3211 News Reporting and Editing were mentored by Ms Ee Lyn Tan, an award winning journalist who has received the Asia Human Rights Press award and has also worked at Reuters previously.
Blog.nus accounts will move to SSO login, tentatively before the start of AY24/25 Sem 2. Once implemented, only current NUS staff and students will be able to log in to Blog.nus. Public blogs remain readable to non-logged in users. (More information.)
