Intruder Alert: Is Eusoff Hall Safe?
Oct 21, 2009
By Chew Yee Kiat
THE Master of Eusoff Hall, Professor Tan Tin Wee, has called for an urgent meeting with its residents, following a series of cases of intrusion into female residents’ rooms.
The recent cases have raised security concerns among hall residents. In all cases, the victims went to bed with their doors unlocked.
Thus, the meeting aimed to raise awareness among hall residents about their own safety and to stay extra vigilant.
During the meeting, Professor Tan also provided examples of previous cases of intrusion over the years to show residents just how serious these cases could be.
He brought up an example of an incident that happened two years ago in King Edward VII Hall when an undergarment thief fell to his death while he was trying to escape from the residents.
Though it was an accident, Professor Tan made his point clearly that hall residents should never allow intruders into hall.
Currently, hall residents use a device known as transponder key to lock their rooms. It is the surest security measure to prevent intrusion into their rooms.
“I urge everyone here to lock and latch their door when you go to sleep, or when you leave your room,” said Professor Tan, stressing the seriousness of the issue.
Safety has always been a concern for the residents of Eusoff Hall, as it is not entirely off limits to public. Besides, the compound, which is sited right behind Kent Ride Bus Terminal, is not fully fenced. Countless cases of stolen slippers and shoes have happened after they were left outside the rooms unattended.
With regards to theft cases, Professor Tan reassured hall residents that more security measures are being implemented.
For instance, fences are currently being set up around hall boundaries to keep outsiders away. Once the construction is complete, Eusoff Hall would be entirely off limits to public and the only way to enter the hall would be to use the transponder key.
Meanwhile, some hall residents are managing a night watch programme to raise the safety of Eusoff residents. The night watch programme helps to keep Eusoff Hall safer as previous cases of intrusion happened mostly at night.
Despite these security measures, Professor Tan said that there is only one way to prevent similar cases of intrusion from happening in the future.
“Vigilance, vigilance, vigilance; I could never emphasise this enough,” he stressed.
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50 years and 50 years on
By Chin Chia Hwee
“WHATEVER we are doing now, given time, the Chinese will do and do it better,” concluded Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at the annual Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum as he highlighted China as one of the main competitors for Singapore in the next 50 years. This was addressed in the last of the nine pre-selected questions raised by the audiences.
The annual forum held at the NUS University Cultural Centre, had seen great response from many and around 500 questions were submitted to the forum’s committee. After careful deliberation from the committee and Professor Tommy Koh, the best nine were selected.
However, some students were still not satisfied about the selection.
Jason Su, a 2nd year business student and a member of the NUS Political Association commented: “They should have allowed questions to be asked on the spot. The forum will be much more dynamic, instead of sounding rather like a rehearsed-speech.”
The nine chosen lucky participants fired their pre-selected questions regarding issues of a greener Singapore, attitudes of the youth and the declining fertility rates during the forum, which lasted approximately one hour.
During the forum, Minister Mentor Lee mentioned that he believed that Singapore would see more and more citizens whose parents are not born and bred in Singapore. He saw this as a result of the declining birthrate due to a change in attitudes in the new generation.
“ We have been trying all we can to get them to at least replace themselves,” Minister Mentor Lee said with a tint of humor when addressing the issue of an ever-declining birthrate in Singapore put forth by Boo Ho Chin, a student from NUS.
Minister Mentor Lee then went on to highlight the importance of creating a national identity for these second-generation born and bred Singaporeans.
Another concern raised by NUS student Jang Jia Hui was about youth’s attitudes nowadays. MM Lee responded with an anecdote about his own grandchildren. He realized that their reliance on the butler was detrimental and youths should be more self-reliant instead.
On the possibility of a greener Singapore, Minister Mentor Lee did not see Singapore following the footsteps of Korea and Taiwan in their recycling efforts.
“In Singapore, you have to be able to pinpoint who, then they will do it,” Minister Mentor Lee commented about how unrealistic it would be to get Singaporeans to comply with recycling efforts if there was no way single out individual offenders.
The forum continued with Minister Mentor Lee citing Singapore’s good system of laws and regulation, especially those pertaining to intellectual properties, as its main competitive edge against uprising countries like China.
This was the second time that Minister Mentor Lee was invited to the ministerial forum. Although not all were satisfied, many were just excited to see him in person.
Fairus bin Jasmin, a 3rd year Arts student exclaimed: “It’s great to be able to see him tonight. He’s like a living legend!”
The move to filter out questions first might have taken into the consideration of what happened the last time Minister Mentor Lee attended the forum back in 2005.
Jason Su added: “Perhaps the committee thought that the forum in 2005 was too lively for comfort as a NUS student made reference of Minister Mentor Lee to a ‘despot’.”
Ending promptly in almost the same way that it started, the auditorium erupted into another round of standing ovation as the founding father of Singapore, Minister Mentor Lee, made his exit.
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E-Resource Fair 2009: Larger Crowd, Greater Experience
15 October 2009, 10.30am
By Lin Peiyu
MORE than 1000 students and staff visited the E-Resource Fair 2009, organised by NUS Libraries, yesterday at the central library forum. The fair saw the largest turnout for NUS Libraries outdoor event to date.
The crowd was greeted by 21 e-resource publishers showcasing their latest databases and imparting search tips to interested visitors in their booths.
This year’s fair was unlike the previous year where goodie bags consisting of corporate gifts were handed out to visitors. Instead, visitors had to stop by at least three booths and answer questions related to the databases before they could redeem their goodie bags and qualify for the grand draw.
The event also allowed visitors to interact and direct any queries to the publishers present.
“I think this hands-on interaction is a great way for them (visitors) to learn about our services,” said Janice Chia, 35, Elsevier’s account development manager.
Students interviewed felt that the change to a more engaging interaction between publishers and themselves was beneficial.
“Compared to last year, I think this year is better in that I really learnt something useful for my research purposes,” said Leaw Weilin, 21, third year Communications and New Media student.
Chemistry lecturer Prabhavathy Janardhana, 37, said that the interaction with publishers reinforced what was being taught during library tutorials.
Apart from gaining research skills useful for acing projects and assignments, attractive lucky draw prizes, such as iPod Touch and Nintendo Wii devices, were another major attraction.
These prizes, sponsored by the publishers, were incentives to reward students and staff for their time and participation.
“The sponsorship was a way of thanking NUS libraries for having us here to promote the use of databases among students and staff,” said Jaryl Loh, 29, client services consultant from LexisNexis.
NUS librarian Hashimah Johari, 42, said this year’s fair garnered a “much better response” compared to the previous year, which attracted about 600 people.
“We’ve improved our programmes and increased publicity based on feedback from students and vendors last year and I think our efforts paid off from the good response,” she added.
First year Economics student Jason Ti, 21 said that the fair was a “great experience” as he was surprised that the library would actually organise such a fair to help students learn more about using e-resources.
“I’ll definitely look forward to next year’s E-Resource Fair,” he added.
The fair was a highlight of the E-Resource Discovery Day organised by NUS Libraries to promote the use of e-resources as a research and learning tool among students and staff.
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A Script of Enjoyment
By Siah Shing Yeen
NUS Raffles Hall’s annual production concert, Off Script, ended last Sunday night with a standing ovation from the full house during the curtain call. The concert ran for two days at the University Cultural Centre.
Off Script is a comedy depicting the struggles of six individuals in a production team who faced a tight schedule to rehearse for a play.
The two-hour concert started promptly as a huge crowd of about 400 strong were seated within 15 minutes when the doors opened.
Indeed, the evening was well spent as the concert provided great comical relief to the audience as the actors exchanged humorous dialogues with a local flavour. Dance routines that were infused into the play enthralled the audience further.
The highlight of the concert was the epilogue titled Big Bang, as the entire cast came on stage and danced to a melody of pop songs to enliven the atmosphere. Audiences clapped along enthusiastically to the catchy tunes as the mood in the theatre reached fever pitch.
Actor Joel Kang who played as the director drew the most laughter as he entertained the crowd with a zany Hong Kong accent. Finally, there was a resounding cheer from the audience as the actors returned to the stage to give their final thanks.
“It was hilarious. Joel surprised me with his comical accent and exaggerated expressions. I didn’t know he had it in him!” Kelvin Chua, a Year 3 Raffles Hall resident said.
Second year Arts student, Koh Shu En who particularly enjoyed the last skit in which the whole cast performed together, also raved about the play.
Co-producer Tan Chee Chung said that the concert was “not as easy to pull off as compared to previous years” as there was no freshmen intake this year. Tan explained that the hall was undergoing a major overhaul, which resulted in a severe lack of manpower for the play.
“Despite the lack of manpower, we were encouraged by remembering the joy that we had experienced after the concert last year, which inspired us to put forth a good show again this time,” he said.
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A Bazaar With Heart
By: Lim Ziwei Paul
THIS was not just any ordinary school bazaar; it was one with a touch of heart.
More than 1,200 people thronged the opening day of the National University of Singapore Students’ Business Club (Bizad Club) “Yes We Care” Bazaar last Wednesday, which featured 24 stalls representing charitable and non-profit organisations.
This charity fair was organised by the Bizad Club and run entirely by students from The Zoe Project, a Management and Organisation (MNO) school project, which encouraged students to help others using management concepts taught in class.
Bizad Club Business Development Manager Ms Oh Kai Li explained: “What’s unique about this bazaar is that we [are] working with the MNO students to come in and set up charity stalls for the Zoe Project. It is also part of an outreach campaign to gather students’ feedback on the school.”
The students chose a variety of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the Bone Marrow Donor Program, Children Cancer Foundation and Young Men’s Christian Association to lend their voices at the bazaar. In order to attract crowd, free scoops of Dreyers’ ice cream were also given to anyone who signed up for the National Kidney Foundation newsletter.
The students also extended a helping hand beyond Singapore to overseas organisations like Children in Cambodia and Refugees of Western Sahara.
Posters and exhibits spanned the corridors of the NUS Business School as students set up stalls to represent the NGOs. Each group had a different objective. Some focused on raising funds for the needy while others raised awareness of the plight of refugees from the third-world countries.
Mr. Ng Woon Yong, a Computing Faculty student representing Kampung Senang Charity Home said: “We are getting quite a good response from the people here. Many have offered to give donations and have also expressed interest in what we are doing.”
Reactions were positive from crowd-goers as students and staff from various faculties descended in droves to patronise the stalls. Amongst the crowd was Engineering student Todd Chua.
He said: “The location is ideal because there are a lot of people here. I think it will encourage students to contribute to society and create awareness of what’s happening to some of the needy that we are trying to help.”
