A Good Man: Tribute to Prof Tan Tai Yong

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.

Survival of the Noblest

There are a few jobs that are recognised as "noble" at least in Singapore - nurses, teachers, social workers, paramedics, housewives/homemakers.

Surprise, surprise, all teachers. If you google "noblest jobs", your top searches are mostly related to TEACHING (maybe the websites trolled us or something).

I always thought a lot about this profession - how tough can it be??? Why does everyone complain? I suppose, the stress comes from all sides. Your principal, head of department, very-senior-colleagues, peers, very-junior-colleagues, naughty students, troubled family students, good students who has a crush on you, students who get too much homework at home, students who refuse to do homework no matter what you do, students who think you're too stupid, students who think you are a witch... And let's not forget, parents. They want you to be a nurturer, care-taker, counsellor, sexuality education educator, conservative, creative, hardworking, professional-looking, watchdog against boy-girl relationship, and of course, polish those diamonds in your class whether or not students are real diamonds, synthetic diamonds, carbide, graphite, charcoal or carbon dioxide.

Recently, I met a friend, who told me that senior teachers who stay in the job are not there because it's survival of the fittest, but survival of the noblest. Those who have pride already quit. Those who are there for the money would have found it too hard.

I think my friend's right. :) But it's still a rewarding job!

The GEP Programme in Singapore

I chanced upon this documentary and decided to watch it. It's quite an eye-opener. Refreshing, yes, to know about the GEP programme.

I never knew what the GEP programme was about until I finished watching this video. I'm surprised that GEP-pers are given some sort of special treatment, and view themselves in a different light, whether good or bad.

It made me ponder about the people that I meet in NUS. I've met some incredibly brilliant and different people. Different in that they seem to know where they're going. Different in that they dare to act in whatever way they want, and do not conform as much regarding ideas that they have.

I've led a YEP project with an ex-R.I. GEP student. He's not loud, but it requires him little effort to do well in NUS. He's slightly socially awkward, but a brilliant planner. He leads as a mastermind, and I lead as his mouthpiece. He has a heart for the NGO (what a waste, I thought, but it's amusing that he doesn't want the riches of the world).

I've another friend, an ex-GEP student. He dropped out of GEP because he was frustrated with the system. He didn't study hard enough for the GEP exam. He went on to Polytechnic, did extremely well, came to NUS to do the only thing he was passionate about in his life - Computing. The lecturer, according to him, was not smart enough to impart him more than what textbooks could offer, and even faulted him when he kindly reminded his lecturer that there was an honest mistake made. He changed course to Economics, made sure he did well enough ONLY to pass the exam (told his lecturer that he won't be submitting 2 out of 3 of his assignments), and graduated with merit.

There is another person whom I know who is a bird-watcher. He's interested in everything - History, Literature, Nature... He found life too boring and took a Year 4 course in Year 1. Obviously he didn't do well because NUS marks papers against standard answers. It was interesting to note that he could distinguish the species of birds just by its call, and he's too absorbed to everything and anything, he didn't have time for his studies (and neither did he care, really).


There are people whom I know who are extremely brilliant who didn't appear so brilliant at age 9, and hence didn't make it to GEP. Perhaps these are people who secretly admire non-conformity, people who constantly have ideas but were told to hush... *ponders*

Some thoughts on Singapore

Having read some newspaper dated Feb 2012 when the General Election hype was roaring, I wondered why Singapore continues to feel hopeless.

As a student, I worry about the ever-increasing tuition fees. I've two brothers - age 12, and 20. Will my brothers be deprived of university education because the family hasn't enough money to support them? They are deserving high B low A students - certainly insufficient to get a scholarship, yet they are still full of potential, and are constantly improving daily. The family already struggles to pay bills from day to day, and we have barely enough, not to mention, savings. I'm in University now, and my father paid for it with his CPF.  The government only allows a certain percentage of the CPF be used. When my brother finally gets into University, there wouldn't be enough.

As a daughter, I worry for my parents' retirement and rising healthcare costs. My mother has cataract, and visited the National University Hospital in early March 2012, when she was already almost blind in one eye. She dared not see the doctor at first for fear of the expensive healthcare costs. When she went to the polyclinic, the doctor told her she had just astigmatism, and so she waited, and sought no further treatment. She lost more and more of her sight, and banged into walls while working as a cleaner, at a PAP kindergarten. The staff showed no sympathy, and questioned her reduced speed of working, sometimes even threatening her. She went back to the polyclinic, and the clinic finally referred her to the hospital. The hospital scheduled her appointment in end of May, and made her wait for almost three months. She suffered more frequent injuries while working, and because she is a part-timer, she has no leave she could take. My question was:
1. Why did the hospital make her wait so long? If they have their constraints, their lack of doctors, why wasn't the intake of Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine increased 10 years ago, when the problem of ageing population first surfaced?
2. Because my family is bigger than others, my father has only a PSLE certificate and my mother doesn't even have that, can my mother afford not to work, since she's ailing and having aches in her knee and back?
3. If she does stop working, will my grades at NUS and my brother's grades at Ngee Ann Poly suffer if we have to take on more employment just to support the family? Why make meritocracy such a vicious cycle packaged in a glitzy wrapper?


Moving on from my family matters, I worry about the education of the future generation. As a future educator, my heart sank when I read the newspaper that "students are tested on much more than what the school teaches." Private tuition is essential. However, my question is - can the poor afford tuition? The school has forgotten that Financial Aid is insufficient to cover just the books, uniform and school fees. Can more be done to bridge the widening gap by ensuring that deserving students from less privileged backgrounds can receive quality education? It saddens me that schools only remember and invest in their cream of the crop (yes, I was part of the cream all my life) and forget that most of the students in the top classes can afford tuition outside, while most students in the bottom classes cannot.

==> Can teachers be better trained to help such students, or schools implement schemes where students can look up teachers at a specific time slot at a specific place on any day to ask questions on any subjects?

The government has invited people of all nationalities (many Indians and Chinese) to partake of our great nation-building project, but hasn't provided the infrastructure to support the huge influx in population. Take the public transport for instance. The buses/MRT are consumed by the blue collar, and a large percentage of the white collars. Buses are so packed when they leave the interchange they do not stop at any bus stops until they reach the industrial parks where everyone get off the buses. More buses please! The transport companies reply that they are doing what they can. Could the government intervene, either through forums with the transport companies, or by engaging top economists to see if the transport companies could in fact do more, or enforce sanctions to protect the basic needs of citizens? Note: I haven't a big issue with foreigners, and foreigners or Singaporeans, we need to get to work on time in order not to get fired. We could leave the house 15mins early, but the situation isn't any better. We could leave the house 1 hour early, but what do we do when we get to work so early?
==> Could we encourage the staggering of working hours? While the Budget 2012 focuses on building the Downtown Line, can we pause for a moment and improve what we have instead of building more?


As a citizen of Singapore, I understand the twin problems we have - an aging population, and a shrinking workforce. The former requires fiscal investment which the latter is unable to provide. To bridge the gap we have the foreigners joining us in both blue-collar and white-collar sectors. I also understand, and sympathize with the blue-collar workers - while we think that they have a good life in Singapore and would be a rich man when they go back, most of them got conned/lured to this place and realise only when they reach that whatever they thought was far from reality. While we think the Banglas are disgusting and dangerous, most that I've met were very polite and respectful of ladies. Not far from my home is a Bangla/Indian quarter, where hundreds to thousands of them are housed. They rather stand on the bus than sit next to me. And while I do get stares of curiosity, I don't remember being leered at. Many of them are also very, very educated, and speak fluent English.
==> Could we make them love Singapore, instead of fear Singapore, and increase their productivity by making them love the job they have and giving them a decent standard of living? Do we really need to make them remember that Singaporean employers hurl nothing but threats of repatriating them, of docking their salary?

Supposedly, the aging population problem can be alleviated by an increased birth rate. I don't fancy the Baby Bonus idea, and instead prefer the grant of privileges for bigger families. The rising standard of living has made life more expensive to maintain, but above all, it's evident that the largest expenditures come when one's children enter the tertiary education. Most of the developed world also believe that having one -elite- child is better than having 3 not-so-elite ones. Yet, having one is better than having none,which is what many Singaporeans are steering towards. I think the government could get the public, the policy makers and the academics to air their views on how this problem can be best solved.

is there hope for... me, humanity, the world?

many think that these two animals are bought by my boyfriend for me. contrariwise, they aren't. My little brother, being a reserved child, is deeply acquainted with the little Pooh bear in the picture. Big sister me spotted Big Pooh, and together with my boyfriend, we brought the Big Pooh back home to my little brother. He was flabbergasted. "Ahhhh!!!!" He couldn't stop grinning. It has since become his new best friend. The Big Pooh's his girlfriend, and the little Pooh his little boy. He's only 12.

Lab report. Screwed because my extremely brilliant partner spilled the DNA over to the other lane. He airbrushed it away on photoshop. We scored an A for the report. All I did was to check the grammar. *grins* [An 'A' grade in NUS is extremely hard to get by the way.] I got to keep this photograph, the DNA fingerprint in which I argued on and on, "I'm dead sure there's ethidium bromide in it!" There isn't. There's only agar, and it isn't edible.

A slice of rainbow cake, compliments of my hostel neighbour. Being the extremely shy/asocial new addition to the block, I was not invited to any celebrations of birthdays. Not that I really care, actually. I was studying hard for my exams. Then came a knock at the door, and a slice of cake. It did cheer me up from my lulls of work, and for a split second, the world didn't look as dystopic as education has made it out to be.

I love this photograph. It's badly taken, i know. I took it during a visit to a nursing home with my boyfriend. I saw that possibly 80 year old man feeding his wife food. They didn't speak much, but the love in his eyes surpassed any words that the universe could describe. There she was, in the nursing home. Rain or shine, he would be there to visit. Almost brought tears to my eyes.

Gender stereotypes, seen in these little ten-year-olds. "Boys eat more what!' They were buzzing away. Truth is, I thought so, when I was 10, but now that I'm so much older, I realised boys only eat much more after puberty, not at such a tender age. Their fascination with almost everything strikes me. Little Einstein, a boy in the crowd of 39, answered every single question like reading a Britannica with a twinkling in his eyes. Plump girl got scolded by teacher, and started crying and withdrawing from the crowd. "The girl in yellow", the teacher said, "watch out for her." I thought she was a monster. She wasn't. She was a little autistic, and could not relate well to her peers. It's most unfortunate that children are "marked for destiny" at such a tender age. And equally unfortunate is that they would grow to be who the society expects of them. At least, according to Psych, a lousy capability paired with high hopes makes a child a "high ability kid" as opposed to a normal capability paired with low hopes.

This is the most epic photo of my life's collection. Snapped in Singapore, this photograph is a lift that's shut down. The paper writes, "The management didn't treat us like humans... [the rest I couldn't read cus it's too cursive]... B**tard!" It might not be a big deal, but because it's Singapore and I literally walked up the stairs with other residents of the block, I was quite startled that such a protest was launched. In Singapore, workers always do as told. In Singapore, there hasn't been a strike for more than half a century. In Singapore, the government believes in efficiency and protection of labour welfare. Is there a slice of population that we have forgotten, or the workers are being overly demanding? But anyway, I smiled to myself that something extraordinary has happened right before my eyes.

Is there hope? Of course! Agency vs structure. The world's a bizarre, yet dazzling place.