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NEWS

PANOPT A Yale-NUS Student Publication

ISSUE NO. 13

TUESDAY, 19 AUGUST 2014

YALE-NUS, SINGAPORE

Letter from the Editors

I

n the wee hours of 8 October 2013, PANOPT was born. There was little kicking and screaming, and sounds of ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘ahh-ing’ soon accompanied the blue and orange papers on elevators, notice-boards, and common lounges. It was a smooth delivery.

PANOPT started out as an academic newsletter under the Vice-Rector’s Office. We no longer exist in that capacity.

We hear your voices – a newsletter that simply praises its institution without critical thought has outlived its usefulness to the community. Moving forward, PANOPT is an autonomous school newspaper that is committed to free speech and critical discourse. Discourse is essential for any community, and PANOPT is a platform for this to occur.

As with any baby, problems arise when they start teething. We don’t know how the shift from two to 14 staff will work out; neither do we know whether our weekly distribution rate will be sustainable. But we face these problems willingly because it marks the way forward. We may fall, but we will get up better and stronger. We care deeply about serving the community, and vow to constantly improve, issue by issue.

We cannot do this alone. This semester, we are immensely blessed to have on board with us a group of talented and passionate individuals. We extend a warm welcome to our new staff members: Associate News Editor | May Tay Associate Sports Editor |Raeden Richardson News Reporter | Yonatan Gazit Sports Reporter | David Chappell Features Reporter | Kavya Gopal Features Reporter | Regina Marie Lee Opinions Reporter | Kaushik Swaminathan Designer | Angela Ferguson Web Master | Iwani Mawocha Business&Distribution Manager | Alex Pont Photographer | Christopher Khew Photographer | Pareen Chadhari You will hear from them in this issue and following issues, and be simply blown away, just as we were and still are. More importantly, we need you, our readers. To our faithful readers the past year, thank you. A newspaper without readers simply does not exist. Help us make PANOPT yours just as much it is ours.

Enjoy the first issue of this semester!

Joyan and Spandana Managing Editors of PANOPT 1 | 19 Aug, 2014

RC3 trekking along padi fields in Vietnam photo Shina Chua

RC2 gearing up in Sarawak, Malaysia photo Lim Chu Hsien

FIRST YEAR ADVENTURES IN SEA story | Spandana Bhattacharya, May Tay

O

n 7 August, the college’s freshmen class packed their bags and embarked on their 5-day Orientation Adventure Trips. These trips were part of their 18 day long orientation program, and took place in three different Southeast Asian countries: Laos (RC 1), Malaysia (RC 2) and Vietnam (RC 3).

There were three main goals for the trips.

The first was for the students to explore a new location in Asia, the second was for them to learn more about a country’s culture, and the third was to encourage team building within each residential college.“Most schools don’t send their students abroad for Orientation but Yale-NUS is not most schools. Going overseas encourages people to step out of their comfort zones and challenge their world views,” said Chris O’Connell, the Student Programs Manager who with the rest of the Office of the Dean of Students staff, Dean’s Fellows, Rectors and Vice-Rectors scouted out locations and planned all three trips over a period of just eight weeks.

Each trip’s itinerary had a mix of cultural, team building and fun activities. In Laos, the freshmen of RC 1 landed in Vientiane and drove to Vang Vieng where they bonded over outdoor activities such as mountain biking and kayaking and also spent time with students from a local primary school. They then returned to Vientiane and explored the city’s temples and markets. RC 2’s freshmen travelled to the Malaysian island of Borneo.

They briefly toured the city of Kuching before traveling to the longhouses of the Iban people, where they spent time navigating the river, visiting a waterfall, assisting with

cooking, and getting to know the community members. The freshmen of RC 3 landed in Hanoi and took an overnight train to the village of Sapa where they had a home stay of two nights. The freshmen engaged in community service and cultural exchanges with local families and then returned to Hanoi, where they participated in a spring roll workshop, and a city tour.

On his biggest takeaway, Dave Chappell’18 of RC 1 said, “For me, the takeaway moment was a trip to COPE, set up to assist disabled citizens of Laos, in particular those affected by cluster bombs dropped by the USA during the Vietnam War. While it was easily the most depressing moment of the trip, seeing the effects the aptly named “secret war” had on Laos – effects that are still being felt today – was certainly eye opening.”

Some freshmen, however, wondered about the amount of positive impact they generated RC1 exploring Vientiane, Laos photo Julianne Thomson

for the communities they visited. “Our trip included a home stay, which allowed us to get a more in-depth look into Vietnamese culture and day-to-day life, but I felt like we played a role that was more passive than I would have liked, as guests with everything done for us,” said Lishani Ramanayake’18 of RC 3.

When asked whether there would be overseas Orientation trips in the future, Chris O’Connell from Dean of Students Office responded in the affirmative and remarked, “We noted the exciting potential of Orientation Trips and would love to have the input of current students, faculty and staff in shaping how they look like for the future

incoming classes.”

For 90-95 percent of the freshmen, it was their first time visiting the locations they travelled to for their orientation trips.

BECOMING A SERVICE-ORIENTED COMMUNITY story | Spandana Bhattacharya, May Tay

As the hustle and bustle of activities on campus slowly wound down towards the end of last semester, over 50 students of YaleNUS’s inaugural batch were gearing up for one last event: the Centre for International and Professional Experience’s (CIPE) flagship program, the NGO Bootcamp.

The five-days Bootcamp took place from 14 to18 May, and comprised whole day sessions facilitated by leaders from the local and international non-profit sectors.

Session leaders shared their views on the local and international NGO landscapes, as well as valuable skills and processes from their experiences. Together, the session leaders had extensive experiences managing multiple aspects of non-profit work in both the private Brainstorming with sticky notes photo CIPE

2 | 19 Aug, 2014

Valerie ‘17 practising her elevator pitch photo CIPE

and public sectors. “[We want] to train students in essential skills, knowledge, and perspectives so that when they intern with NGOs they can make meaningful contributions without too much handholding and also get a rich learning experience,” shared Ms. Nhaca Le Schulze on behalf of CIPE. Hoa Nguyen’17 found the skills learnt from the Bootcamp readily applicable during her internship at Sarus, an NGO based in Cambodia. “My biggest take-away was the concept of design thinking and its application to social work. I was able to apply it extensively during my internship, and even held workshops at my organization on design thinking.”

Session leaders applauded CIPE for pioneering the initiative. “I really believe in the lessons we were trying to convey and

know that I personally could have benefited from this kind of training when I was a young intern,” said Ms Jennifer Hsiao from Bain & Company.

Ms Mae Anderson from Credit Suisse and Art Outreach Singapore, who conducted a session on fundraising, agreed that it was a fruitful program, “I was greeted by a very animated group who were responsive, curious and who asked many relevant and interesting questions... the students have not been passive recipients of lessons and insights from the Bootcamp.”

Over the longer-term, the Bootcamp is also intended to help Yale-NUS create community-minded leaders for the social sector, in alignment with the college’s mission.

CIPE plans to expand the Bootcamp and make it a signature annual program.

WHAT ARE WE PLAYING FOR? story | Raeden Richardson

W

e are not NUS students.

We did not reject prestigious universities across the globe, leave families on the other side of the world, tread the unbeaten path or bind ourselves to the Singaporean government to matriculate as NUS students. Our reason for taking these risks and dreaming these dreams is because we want to be part of something entirely different.

We are not NUS students.

This is Yale-NUS - this is “one plus one equals three” – this is the opportunity to create groups and teams that will form a legacy beyond our years – this is a college where possibilities are endless - this is what we promised to pioneer when we pledged ourselves to this institution … right?

The most recent decision by the NUS administration to deny our attempts to participate in the Singapore University Games (SUniG) not only raises the ire of the “national athletes” the school advertises on websites, in flyers and at First Year Assemblies – young men and women who hoped their talents might be used in the construction of new Yale-NUS teams from the ground up – but is also a serious hindrance to everyone

who aspires to make our college world-class.

The message from the distant figures at NUS is that their varsity teams deserve to have our champion tchoukballers, basketballers, runners and floorballers. The concerted efforts of our “independent, autonomous” administrators to appeal these jurisdictions have been ignored by NUS governors who appear to maintain a sense of ownership over student affairs at our school. Were these limitations relayed to our other parent in New Haven, it would be anyone’s guess whether this fits the development they intended.

Varsity teams are not only outlets for competition at colleges but they forge institutional identity. The athletes in these halls toil through gyms, tracks, physiotherapy appointments and summer vacations to get themselves in the best physical condition to play alongside their classmates and for their classmates – not for a separate university they have little or no emotional connection to whatsoever.

Our athletes should play for us. There is no simpler equation, not even “one plus one equals three”. The moment our students are told their talents are better suited to the societies at NUS is the moment when we necessarily bind our school to something we do not belong to – it is the moment our potential is capped and our wings are clipped.

Our athletes should play for us.

The NUS Inter-Faculty Games (IFGs) are fast approaching. Our Athletics Council in association with the Dean of Students Office

SPORTS

Meditations on First Ideology

We belong to no one but ourselves.

This is not the time to contribute to the NUS sports scene – nor has it ever been.

This is the moment we must take serious steps in defining who we are, how we play and the ethos of our competitors. The best outcome for our school is a triumph in the IFGs, something that will remind the NUS administration just how markedly separate we are – and how much we deserve our own platform, our own league amongst the other autonomous institutions across Singapore.

Though these questions of identity have arisen from the concerns of athletes, having these conversations and asking these tough questions is something every student in our school ought to do. The administration will make every effort to match our plight for independence but we cannot expect them to do the work for us. As our school grows, the onus is on the student body to craft its own image and to remind our parental institution that we belong to no one but ourselves.

Team Yale-NUS in action against the colleges of NUS in February 2014 photo ICG 2014

3 | 19 Aug, 2014

OPINION

has accepted the invitation to compete.

Though this is intended as a worthwhile platform for competition and the fostering of school spirit, it will be tough work shaking the feeling that in the eyes of the majority of NUS students and administrators, we are indistinguishable from the faculties of Law, Medicine and Engineering. One can only wonder who in the Yale-NUS community will find us inseparable from our NUS opposition too.

story | Ling Xi Min Guest Columnist

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orking for Admissions means that many people ask me why I chose to go to YaleNUS. Sometimes though, ‘answers’ are more articulated notions or emotions than rational, considered idea. But a good look at our reflexive responses can produce insights about ourselves: “I chose Yale-NUS because it gives me a sense of purpose and being part of this makes me feel like part of something bigger, in a way that no other college could.”

There is a similarity between certain pieces of literature (like the Analects, the Bible and the Ramayana) and the Yale-NUS mission statement on the wall outside the lobby and dining hall: though not everyone reads it, let alone is conscious of it every waking moment, the ideas represented by words like ‘In Asia,’ and ‘For the World’ have come to pervade the culture they are a part of. But ideology goes deeper than corporate purpose, into culture.

Language and ideology shape our minds in subtle but powerful ways. The language and ideology of Yale-NUS are no less compelling.

One thing about Yale-NUS that we are proud of is a ‘sense of community’ that one cannot replicate on the campus of a large university because it is structurally and psychologically impossible to know 20,000 people. This ‘sense of community’ goes by another name in CSI: communitas.

Part of the Yale-NUS community extends into cyberspace, Facebook being one of the most significant reservoirs. Of all the possible groups we could find under the YaleNUS banner, consider the Confessions page.

It is a fascinating phenomenon which has occasionally emerged from the Internet, to 4 | 19 Aug, 2014

exert power in the real world, commandeering both rational and emotional engagement, as well as the agenda of at least two town-hall meetings. But it doesn’t make sense to say that Confessions disturbs people, rather it is the issues, be they racism or constitutional politics, in Yale-NUS that do so.

The sense of disturbance people felt in the aftermath of certain events (and one which subtly reverberates today) was not for instance just a sense of being offended at a racist remark. Racial discrimination is common on the web, yet none of it produces the same psychological effect as the Confessions crises had on many members of the community.

Contained within that disturbance was a sense of uncertainty or unhingement. As though something previously thought secure had come loose.

Some people felt a sense of disappointment.

But what is disappointment but the sinking of an expectation? There is/was a certain expectation of the communitas that was threatened. Perhaps it was the expectation that everyone was at heart a nice person?

What might we mean by ‘nice people’? People who compliment their Yale-NUS comrade’s every action? People who see and choose to ignore or gloss over deep physical, religious, cultural, philosophical differences? People who don’t see those differences at all? Where do these expectations come from? Who told us that this is what ‘nice people’ look like?

The intangible collection of ideas and notions that form the Yale-NUS ideology are brought here by individuals of different backgrounds, some more similar and others different depending on whose subjective perspective we assume. In the process

of identification as a Yale-NUS student, we begin to identify with our institution.

Everyone does it to some extent in different ways. Somewhere, expectations are formed, conditioned not only by the rhetoric we feed each other, but also by our backgrounds and our ideas of what a liberal arts college is or should be. The more we dig up and plumb the depths of ourselves and our institution (and reading Confessions is an interesting way of doing it), the more we might realize that there are similarities and differences which run far deeper than we expect. Let us also remember that any abstract Yale-NUS ideology is also a historical product of an American liberal arts ideology (whatever that is), rather than something we created ex nihilo here in Singapore. A fair number of optimistic, incoming freshmen expecting an ‘Americanstyle’ education should attest to that. Many of us were not so different not so long ago.

There is something that a community gathers around. A totem maybe, but not a physical object, online platform or person, but a collection of ideas and notions that flow together to form something we might call an ideology. To consider this thought piece as simply an attack on any totem we have right now would be a misunderstanding. Having been a part of this social institution for a year now, I think it is only appropriate that we start examining the nature of the totem we really have. Such a meditation not only demands that we dissect our ideas, but also requires us to reflect deeper than we might have thought necessary. And who knows until where those implications and conclusions might reverberate.