By Wong Kah Wei
A great way to honor our university’s history is by finding out how we have celebrated it in the past. NUS Libraries compiled and produced two select bibliographies to commemorate 90 years of NUS history in 1995 as well as an updated edition for the centennial year in 2005. Interestingly, both bibliographies reflected how information was disseminated in those years. 90 years of NUS history: a select bibliography was published as a hard copy while NUS history: a bibliography, a centennial update, is a web page with a keyword search feature.
These two bibliographies listed university publications, reports, journal and news articles, books and conference papers. These publications were categorized under university institutions such as King Edward VII College of Medicine, Raffles College, University of Malaya, Nanyang University, University of Singapore, Joint Campus and NUS. Within each institutional category, there are sub-categories of Administration, Courses/Curricula, various academic departments and also Hostels.
For those of us who would like to just pick one book to get an overview of the history of the university, click on this link and have fun browsing through. A book I find enjoyable to read and get an overview of our history is Beyond degrees: the making of the National University of Singapore. From this book, I discovered some interesting facts such as the first Music Department was established sometime in 1970/71 by the then Vice-Chancellor Dr Toh Chin Chye (Page 143) and that a “pioneering effort in multidisciplinary education” was made sometime in the 1960s with a course on the history of science run by the Philosophy Dept and involved lecturers from Botany, Mathematics and Physics Departments (Page 120).
Another way to find out about the university’s history is to browse through publications celebrating the centennial or an anniversary. Publications published for the Centennial of 1905-2005 provide key milestones, pictures of the university coat of arms, photos of buildings, university officials, academics, students and graduates. Some publications include the development of academic courses, research, student activities and facilities. Some have personal stories written by alumni. Some are slim volumes filled with old black & white photos and quotations from university chancellors and university leaders. I especially like The NUS story: 100 years of heritage because it has the coat of arms for Straits and Federated Malay Government Medical School and for King Edward VII Medical School which some books lack.
Some Centennial publications are about specific Centennial events. An example is Scaling sporting heights: NUS centennial challenge evening which is a booklet of photos about various sporting events. There is also a music score for a performance by the NUS Centennial Symphony dedicated to NUS alumni, donors and friends.
Going deep to look at the history of specific units or departments within the university, there are also publications published for anniversaries. These are published by various academic departments, residential halls and student bodies of the university. Examples are the 60th anniversary of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (1929-1989), the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Department of Biochemistry, National University of Singapore 1927-1987, the 10th anniversary yearbook of NUSSU (1980-1990) and the 5th anniversary of Temasek Hall and many more. Anniversary publications of a specific department would have history and milestones of the department, the changes in facilities and space, academic programmes and student activities. These accounts are illustrated with photos of the past. In the 60th anniversary of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (1929-1989), there was a photo of the first batch of Raffles College graduates.
One department which preferred to celebrate its anniversary quite differently was the Department of Zoology. For the department’s 40th anniversary, they compiled 40 essays written by their academic staff on zoology, animal life and so on and published the compilation as Essays in zoology : papers commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Department of Zoology, National University of Singapore.
Perhaps the most enjoyable read are publications celebrating class reunions. In Class ’66: reminiscences 50 years later: University of Singapore, alumni wrote about “hops”, “swotting” for exams, panties on flagpoles and warm memories of classmates and teachers. Some students remembered the library fondly and a particular librarian who was known to go around “shhhh…” students to observe silence.
However, there were also poignant memories. In From the alumni perspective : centenary of tertiary education, 1905-2005 : thence, now, hence, there is an essay entitled We shall remember them (Pages 176-179). This is an account which was extracted and abridged from Singapore Medical College Union Magazine, Vol.9, 1946-1947 which was one of the titles of the The Medico: the journal of the students of the King Edward VII Medical School, Singapore. In this essay, we read in detail how 11 university students died during the Japanese attack on 14 February 1942. The essay includes the photos of these students, putting the faces to their names.
In collecting and bringing these university publications together, NUS Libraries provides opportunities to find meaning in the past. Through the lens of these various publications, we discover memories each publication hopes to preserve to remind us that today was built on the legacy of the past. Knowing that commemorative publications and books of our history serve this purpose, we celebrate our present and look forward to building our future.
References
Department of Biology, National University of Singapore (1987). 60th anniversary celebrations of the Department of Biochemistry, National University of Singapore 1927-1987. National University of Singapore.
Department of Zoology, National University of Singapore (1990). Essays in zoology: papers commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Department of Zoology, National University of Singapore. National University of Singapore
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (1989). Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, National University of Singapore: 60th anniversary, 1929-1989. National University of Singapore.
National University of Singapore (2006). The NUS story: 100 years of heritage. NUS Museum, National University of Singapore.
National University of Singapore (2006). Scaling sporting heights: NUS centennial challenge evening. National University of Singapore.
National University of Singapore (2016). Class ’66: reminiscences 50 years later: University of Singapore. National University of Singapore.
National University of Singapore Students’ Union (1990). NUSSU 1980-1990 10th anniversary commemorative yearbook. NUSSU Publications.
Singapore Medical College Union (1947). We will remember them. Singapore Medical College Union Magazine (Vol. 9).
Temasek Hall, National University of Singapore (1994). Temasek Hall 5th anniversary, 6th August 1994: commemorative book. National University of Singapore.
