Prof Tan Tai Yong, Vice Provost (Student Life) used to be the dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Science, National University of Singapore. I spoke to him even before I got admitted to NUS. That time, I was slightly critical, wondering if local universities are for me. So I asked him what his thoughts are on local universities. He smiled and told me very politely that for undergrad, NUS is very good. If I really want to venture out, do that after my Bachelors. He made good sense. More importantly, his very cheery and polite manners made me think twice about NUS. Ah, if the Dean is not an airy-fairy man, then NUS is probably quite grounded.
And it is. The leadership sitting in the Provost's Office are fortunately people with a heart for students, who could empathise what financial difficulty means, what academic stress means, what undergrad emotional turmoil means.NUS has, alas, provided a very safe environment for students to grow. The Provost, like Prof Tan Tai Yong, is also a good man.
Prof Tan also happens to be teaching history. Life took a strange turn in university. I who studied Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Geography (only) in Junior College ended up reading History, something which I thought I hated. (Of course, to my amazement, it was the best thing that happened to me!) The second time I saw Prof Tan was in a BBC documentary on Singapore. And I read his books as readings for my classes.
Prof Tan goes out of his way to help students cope with NUS life. I wrote a sensational article in a student newspaper, and got slammed for it. Prof Tan, alongside Prof JR and Prof KHC agreed to meet me to talk about the issue. JR and KHC said they cannot accept a student as residential assistant to help with financial difficulty, but Prof Tan told me to go see him at his office. He hired me as an intern so that I could move into the hostel, that I could better concentrate on my studies.
Prof Tan also made sure I settled in well, and he actually met and called the admin people from Office of Accommodation, the Cinnamon College, and possibly a number of other people, just so that I could get my room soon, and settle in. And then he got people to follow up with me to make sure I could move on from that incident. Strangely, no other staff really cared, or remembered. Many promised to follow up with me, but did not. Of course I moved on, but I thought it's quite spectacular to know that the Vice-Provost of NUS actually cares about a small fry like me who's just trying to survive. Quite glad that NUS has such high calibre management who are not only competent but cares.
Then Prof Tan happened to ask what I'm interested to work on for my thesis. My research interest, business history, Singapore, and India, happens to be quite obscure - very few work on India in the history department, and very few work on business history in the world. He helped me link up Ngee Ann Kongsi, and Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce, to explore if I could help them write their history. That took a lot of Prof's time, I imagined. Those options didn't work out very well for me, so they were dropped.
One more chance. How about, write a company history, on a port-logistics company? Honestly, it sounded a bit daunting, partly because of the people I was expected to meet, and partly because I have no clue what CFS (container freight stations) and ICD (inland container depot) mean. Maybe I might disappoint Prof Tan, or embarrass him, or if I mess up, he may have to explain on my behalf. Just try. I met the chairman of the company, and it was an interesting project, and with all the faith people had, I felt that I should at least give it a shot.
At this juncture, I would like to say that Prof Tan would probably do the same for just any other student. There was really nothing I could offer him - no prestige, no salary boost, whatsoever. I still remember once I asked him why he troubled himself for an unimportant person like me and all he did was smile and said he likes working with students.
I really went to India to do research for my undergrad thesis! It was a steep learning curve (more so talking to high net-worth people, interviewing people with a different culture). Thesis is probably one of the best things that happened to me in NUS because it's (still!) fascinating, though not easy. I still hope things would turn out fine, but whatever - I'd put in my best effort, and that's the most I can give.
Thank you prof.
And it is. The leadership sitting in the Provost's Office are fortunately people with a heart for students, who could empathise what financial difficulty means, what academic stress means, what undergrad emotional turmoil means.NUS has, alas, provided a very safe environment for students to grow. The Provost, like Prof Tan Tai Yong, is also a good man.
Prof Tan also happens to be teaching history. Life took a strange turn in university. I who studied Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Geography (only) in Junior College ended up reading History, something which I thought I hated. (Of course, to my amazement, it was the best thing that happened to me!) The second time I saw Prof Tan was in a BBC documentary on Singapore. And I read his books as readings for my classes.
Prof Tan goes out of his way to help students cope with NUS life. I wrote a sensational article in a student newspaper, and got slammed for it. Prof Tan, alongside Prof JR and Prof KHC agreed to meet me to talk about the issue. JR and KHC said they cannot accept a student as residential assistant to help with financial difficulty, but Prof Tan told me to go see him at his office. He hired me as an intern so that I could move into the hostel, that I could better concentrate on my studies.
Prof Tan also made sure I settled in well, and he actually met and called the admin people from Office of Accommodation, the Cinnamon College, and possibly a number of other people, just so that I could get my room soon, and settle in. And then he got people to follow up with me to make sure I could move on from that incident. Strangely, no other staff really cared, or remembered. Many promised to follow up with me, but did not. Of course I moved on, but I thought it's quite spectacular to know that the Vice-Provost of NUS actually cares about a small fry like me who's just trying to survive. Quite glad that NUS has such high calibre management who are not only competent but cares.
Then Prof Tan happened to ask what I'm interested to work on for my thesis. My research interest, business history, Singapore, and India, happens to be quite obscure - very few work on India in the history department, and very few work on business history in the world. He helped me link up Ngee Ann Kongsi, and Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce, to explore if I could help them write their history. That took a lot of Prof's time, I imagined. Those options didn't work out very well for me, so they were dropped.
One more chance. How about, write a company history, on a port-logistics company? Honestly, it sounded a bit daunting, partly because of the people I was expected to meet, and partly because I have no clue what CFS (container freight stations) and ICD (inland container depot) mean. Maybe I might disappoint Prof Tan, or embarrass him, or if I mess up, he may have to explain on my behalf. Just try. I met the chairman of the company, and it was an interesting project, and with all the faith people had, I felt that I should at least give it a shot.
At this juncture, I would like to say that Prof Tan would probably do the same for just any other student. There was really nothing I could offer him - no prestige, no salary boost, whatsoever. I still remember once I asked him why he troubled himself for an unimportant person like me and all he did was smile and said he likes working with students.
I really went to India to do research for my undergrad thesis! It was a steep learning curve (more so talking to high net-worth people, interviewing people with a different culture). Thesis is probably one of the best things that happened to me in NUS because it's (still!) fascinating, though not easy. I still hope things would turn out fine, but whatever - I'd put in my best effort, and that's the most I can give.
Thank you prof.
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