Students can now directly apply for double majors at NUS

Monday, 27 February 2017

Channel NewsAsia Online

This was a report on new education-related initiatives that NUS will be introducing in the new academic year. Students looking to study at NUS can directly apply to about 70 new combinations of Double Major or Major-Minor combinations spread across 16 subject areas in Business, Humanities, Social Sciences, as well as Science and Technology. Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost noted that to be an effective contributor in the workplace of the future, graduates need to develop deep expertise in more than one core discipline. He added that the University saw students gaining knowledge in multiple fields in recent years, often outside of their core disciplines. Therefore, to encourage students to expand their domain expertise, NUS has developed a broad suite of combinations for students doing a single-degree major to pursue a second major or a minor. Prof Tan also highlighted that the new combinations have been structured such that students will be able to complete all modules within four years.

Live screening of Hacking the Wild premiere on 16th Feb

CNM’s Dr Andrew Quitmeyer is starring in Discovery Channel’s ‘Hacking the Wild’ series, which premieres this month. Watch the trailer here https://goo.gl/xLC516

Dr Quitmeyer is hosting a live screening of the first show on 16 Feb 2017, 11am at LT 7A, Building 36.

To read more on his research and for details of the screening head over here
https://goo.gl/54Lnvt

Hope to see you at the screening!

Which industries are vulnerable to the ‘sharing economy’? (Opinion, Page A22)

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

The Straits Times

This was an article contribution by Distinguished Professor Ivan Png from the Department of Strategy and Policy at NUS Business School and the Department of Economics at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Prof Png shared his views of the sense and nonsense of the “sharing economy”, citing Uber as an example.

The article is part of a monthly series “Ask: NUS Economists” by the NUS Department of Economics. Each month, a panel will address a topical issue.

Click here to read the article.

The pros and cons of US withdrawal from TPP (Opinion, Page A20)

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

The Straits Times

In today’s edition of The Straits Times, there was an article contribution by Associate Professor Shin Jang-Sup from the Department of Economics at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Assoc Prof Shin noted that history tells us that the freest trade does not necessarily guarantee maximum growth of the world economy. He opined that it also tells us that the launch of the World Trade Organization regime and various other initiatives to further liberalise the world economy, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) had, at best, a marginal effect on global economic growth. He added that in this respect, US President Donald Trump’s dumping of TPP and his intended revisions of other trade agreements would not have strong negative effects on the world economy.

Click here to read the article.

Guard against gig economy creating permanent underclass (Opinion, Page A21)

Tuesday, 7 February 2017

The Straits Times

This was an article contribution by Associate Professor Irene Ng, who is from the Department of Social Work at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Director of the Social Service Research Centre at NUS; and Professor Lim Sun Sun, Head of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at SUTD. The authors discussed the challenges that arise from gig economy employment of low-wage workers.

They noted that without the security of an organisation that provides employment benefits such as healthcare, insurance and skills upgrading, low-wage workers’ gig economy employment offers limited social mobility. They opined that on the low-wage, low-skills end, the gig economy is really more of a chore economy manned by people performing chores that the wealthy seek to outsource. To avoid entrenching people within the chore economy, the authors also highlighted the need to implement policy safeguards that can offer these low-wage workers the advantages of long-term employment, and public education to apprise them of the value of upskilling.

Click here to read the article.

Love for Malay theatre blossomed after competition (Page 8)

Monday, 6 February 2017

Berita Harian

It was reported that Ms Nur Diyanah Razali, a final year student from the Department of Malay Studies at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Science, is now working on her thesis on Malay theatre for her final year studies. Ms Diyanah attributed her love for Malay theatre to her participation in Semarak Temasek, a Malay theatre competition, when she was in junior college.

Click here to read the article.

What do Singaporeans view as successful ageing? (Page 15)

Sunday, 5 February 2017

Lianhe Zaobao

This was an article contribution by Assistant Professor Feng Qiushi from the Department of Sociology at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in which he discussed about what Singaporeans perceive as successful ageing. He shared that he was involved in a social research project in 2011 that was led by Associate Professor Paulin Straughan from the same Department, which had come up with 12 benchmarks on how successful ageing can be defined.