Tuesday, September 04, 2007
University of New South Wales Singapore campus to shut in JuneBy Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 23 May 2007 1715 hrsSINGAPORE: The University of New South Wales (UNSW) will close its campus in Singapore next month. The announcement came less than two months after its grand opening. The school said it was facing a financial shortfall of $15 million a year due to lower-than-anticipated student enrolment numbers. Its target was 300 students in its first semester. But it only got 148 students, 100 of whom are Singaporeans. If it were to continue building its campus in Changi, it would have to borrow $140 million. The school said both factors led to an unsustainable financial burden and it decided to call it quits in Singapore. Students have already paid their fees, which range between S$26,000 and S$29,000 a year. UNSW says these students will be offered a place at its home campus in Sydney. There will also be scholarships to help with the cost of travel and accommodation. UNSW has already invested over S$22 million (A$17.5 million) in its Singapore campus. It was invited by Singapore's Economic Development Board in 2004 to establish what would have been the first private comprehensive university in Singapore. The EDB had said the school was expected to contribute at least $500 million a year to the economy in direct spending. The EDB refuses to reveal how much it invested in the school. The episode is clearly damaging to Singapore's aim to be a global schoolhouse. But the EDB, which drives the global schoolhouse initiatives, believes it will still reach its target of attracting 150,000 international students by 2015. There are currently 80,000 foreign students in Singapore. Aw Kah Peng, EDB's Assistant Managing Director, said: "The learning point is that we have to continue working very hard. Truly, with every institution, it will be different. With each one, we have to put everything we can to think about all these issues of whether we can make it work, how long it will take for us to make it work, what will it take for us to make it work. We will then have to step forward on that basis." UNSW says it would have stayed on in Singapore if it has been allowed to scale down its student enrolment numbers to 2,000 students by 2012. But this would be quite far from the original bargain with the EDB which had set a target of 15,000 UNSW students by 2020. The UNSW closure does not mean that the EDB will no longer work with the school. The EDB says there are many areas of cooperation between UNSW and Singapore which are mutually beneficial. These include foundation schooling for university entry, research collaborations, University of New South Wales school competitions and joint programmes with Singapore institutions. EDB says it will continue to pursue these areas and strengthen its relationship with UNSW. - CNA/irReference ArticleStudents shocked by UNSW Singapore campus closureBy Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 23 May 2007 2311 hrsSINGAPORE: The decision to shut down the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Singapore campus comes as a shock to many students. The UNSW says students will be offered a place at its home campus in Sydney and there will also be scholarships to help with the cost of travel and accommodation. These scholarships will be based on needs and not on academic achievements. But most students Channel NewsAsia spoke to were not quite convinced. Many had chosen the Singapore campus because they could not afford to go to Australia. And though the school is helping out financially with the scholarships, it is not clear at this point in time how much exactly the school is willing to fork out. Still, the university claims that about half its students have indicated that they would like to go to Australia to continue their studies. Most of the local students who enrolled in the university come from the polytechnics. "It's quite an inappropriate time, with our exams coming as well. If they decide to close down after one semester, they should have done adequate research to see if this whole university was even feasible in the first place," said a student. "Knowing that the school is a creditable one, it is unbelievable that this thing can happen," said another. "I do not know what is the next step I need to do. To transfer to another school or go to Sydney? What is the option for us? Now, they have not known what are the private institutes we can go to to transfer in Singapore," said a third student. The school says that it is also in talks with local institutions and other universities in the region to offer these students a place to continue their education. But this is little consolation for the 48 foreign students who wanted an Australian degree and Singapore cost of living. "The school is offering us to go back to Australia to study, but I cannot go back. I end up paying something like $30,000 and I can do nothing. I've spent the money and yah, it's pretty hard for me now," said a student from Hong Kong. "I hope not to go back to Indonesia. I'm seeking to go overseas because it's a better education but now this happens, it's a bit confusing for me," said a student from Indonesia. "Before this, I was in Los Angeles. I was going to go to UNSW in Sydney but I ended up coming here because Singapore is also a good place. It's a good name, it's a good school, so I thought I'll give this a try, moved everything from LA, came here....I don't know what I'm going to do right now," said a student from the US. - CNA/ir
i'm emo @ 4:18 AM
Monday, September 03, 2007
It’s hip to be green but is there a line between being genuinely concerned about the planet and being an eco poseur?IT’S been cloudy and raining the past week and I love weather like this.My bed’s next to a window which I keep open, and I love it when lightning and thunder wake me up at night.I love the sound of the rain. I love it when the downpour gets so heavy that sheets of it slant past my blinds and raindrops start splattering against my face. I love the mossy smell of dampness seeping up from the ground during a storm, and I love digging deeper under my blanket and going back to sleep. This wet weather is weird for July, but then the world’s weather has gone all screwy.Floods in summertime Britain and China but heatwaves in Romania, Austria and Bulgaria. Mother Nature has become one capricious old lady.The most common explanation for all this is global warming. Temperatures around the world are rising because cars, factories, power plants and the like are emitting a lot of carbon dioxide, trapping heat in the atmosphere.Global warming is said to be the villain behind weather woes from droughts to floods, wildfires to melting glaciers. Some even say it caused 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in the United States.The thing is, a lot of what constitutes global warming – as well as the green movement itself – continues to baffle me.Oh, I’ve watched Al Gore’s 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth. He did a good job of explaining global warming. He was also convincing in putting across the message that much of it is caused by humans and that we’ll be in big trouble if we don’t stem the emission of carbon dioxide.It’s not a view that everyone accepts, but the problem with the green movement for neutral observers like me is how vicious and personal debates always degenerate to.Green advocates and sceptics alike are so zealous in their views – just read the Internet forums – that they put off more open-minded folk like me who want to find out more about the issues, which are often complex. (Do you really understand how carbon offsets work?)As I gather, one hot topic right now is whether buying eco-friendly products actually reduces global warming, or is it something one does just to appear “cool”. With celebrities lending their names to the green cause and companies rolling out stylish, expensive earth-friendly products from clothes to bedsheets, has the focus moved from saving the planet to making a fashion statement? There’s a term for people who indulge in this – eco poseurs. The urban dictionary on the Internet defines this as one who “buys all the eco-friendly non-toxic household products, organic local growns, hybrids and other gree’ery’.“They really do not ‘do’ anything to help our earth, they just purchaseover-priced stuff from companies that try to help. So they wear the hemp and eat the organic, but do they actually take time out of their cell phone lives to give a helping hand?”TAKE the much-hyped Anya Hindmarch I’m Not A Plastic Bag bag.The British accessories designer is most famous for her Be a Bag project where customers can get their photographs printed onto her bags. (I’ve got one with my niece’s face on it).Earlier this year, she worked with a British non-profit organisation to design an affordable, environmentally friendly bag that people could use in lieu of evil plastic bags.Made of unbleached cotton and sold for £5 (S$15), the bags with the cute logo were snapped up in Britain. Women lined up from 2am to buy them and celebrities were spotted carrying them.When the bags came to Asia, fights broke out in Hong Kong as women rushed for them.In Singapore, there were more people on the waiting lists than the number of bags alloted. They are now sold on eBay for many times their price. Fakes have appeared in China.Kudos to Hindmarch for her contribution to the cause, but what can one say about the consumers? How much of the rush for the bag was because of a genuine desire to use it in place of plastic bags, and how much merely coveting the latest trendy must-have and to be one up on your neighbour because you have the bag and she doesn’t?You see the same green chic bandwagon mentality in fashion.The in thing now is for designers to have “eco” lines that boast raw materials – natural silk organza, organic wool – and “ethical” production and manufacturing processes.All well and good, but their price tags are laughable – $700 silk dresses, $2,000 clutch bags with wooden beads, $5,000 blazers made of cork. Is this what being green is about? Shopping choices, and expensive ones at that?I’d always thought that the starting point of the green movement was consuming less rather than more. Then again, who am I to sneer at the green chic chick for being insincere?If Anya Hindmarch’s I’m Not A Plastic Bag bag was dangled before me, I’d grab it too and, yes, because it is trendy and cute. It’s the same reason one of my favourite T-shirts features a huge recycling logo. It’s a cool cause to be associated with right now.Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you’re latching on to the eco cause just because it’s the fashionable thing to do so. It’s better than not being bothered at all. In any case, taking small steps is the only way that we, digits on the planet, can help.While politicians and big businesses slug it out over the causes and effects of global warming, it’s actually quite simple on the personal level to do your part to bring down global warming. According to Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth website, it’s as easy as this:Replacing a regular lightbulb with a compact flourescent one; driving less; recycling more; checking that your tyres are properly inflated to improve gas mileage; using less hot water; avoiding products with lots of packaging to cut down on garbage; adjusting your thermostat; planting a tree; turning off electronic devices when not using them.I’m late in the game, but I’m trying.The other day, I surprised myself when I was buying doughnuts. The cashier was putting the plastic bag of doughnuts into another plastic bag when I told her I didn’t need it – the doughtnuts could easily fit into another (plastic) bag I was already carrying.It was no big deal of course, but I did feel virtuous and smug.And my most important contribution of all to alleviate global warming? I never sleep with the air-conditioner on. I get ventilation from an open window.Which, of course, is also perfect when it rains in the early hours of the morning, as has been happening.
i'm emo @ 8:12 AM
Have people been too obsess in “going green”? Have we been “going green” just because it is the “hip” thing to do? Well, the author of this article certainly feels so.She realized that “green” items, which are items that are made of natural materials to cut down on the use of plastics or items to help one cut down on waste, are becoming ridiculously expensive. For example, it costs $2000 for a clutch bag with wooden beads. To the author, people nowadays starts going green because they realize that their friends are starting to eat organic food, carrying recycled material bags. How many people actually are willing to spend money to have the desire to save Earth and not to keep up with the fashion?Although the author thinks that it is not very good to spend so much to go green only to want to keep up with the fashion, it is better than those who are not doing anything. She believes that rather than spending so much, it might be better to actually return to the conventional of saving Earth, in other words, stop wasting electricity, increasing gas mileage, cut down on items with a lot of packaging.This is important to those who are constantly spending money to keep with the fashion of going green. It will allow them to reflect on the real need of spending so much and finding out that they can actually possibly help Earth more through practical and costless efforts. To the designers of those ridiculous expensive items, they should also reflect on the real intention of making such an expensive item, is it really to save Earth, or to fill one’s own pocket?To the general public, this is not too big a problem. If one does not have the means to spend so much on purchasing “green” items, all they can do is to be responsible in their homes and try as best to help reduce the amount of damage on Earth. For those who have got more money, it would be great if they are still willing to spend the money to save Earth and at the same time not neglect the things they can continue to do at home. To the environmentalists, this is a win-win situation as no matter if people spend or do not spend money, they will be informed and hopefully learn to save the Earth they live in.I personally am not obsessed with going green but I try as best to do my part. I try to turn off lights in the room when there is no one in, or cut down on the amount of air-conditioning I use. However, I do know that there is a limit to how much I can do, so I hope that anyone that reads my blog can learn from the author. It might be difficult but after some time, it would become one’s second nature and it would feel much easier to save Earth.
i'm emo @ 8:09 AM
This article highlights the shock closure of the University of New South Wales Asia campus in Singapore. Many enlisted students have been left in a loss and their future hanging in thin air.
Firstly, let me identify two issues in this episode. Firstly, it would be the impact on Singapore’s education. NSW Asia offers a wide range of courses from business to biosciences. The pullout of the university has a great significance in that it is a stumbling block in Singapore’s efforts to become a global schoolhouse. Singapore is a country that has limited resources and to increase its status and reputation on the world map, foreign talent is crucial. NSW in Singapore was expected to help to increase international students from 80,000 to a massive 150,000. Imagine the revenue which would be brought in and the impact it would have on Singapore. Foreign talent would be drawn in, and local students will get to experience a novel way of education not found in local universities. The biochemistry industry is also booming in Singapore now, and NSW offers such courses too. Without NSW, the previously enlisted students would lose out as most cannot afford to go overseas and they have to miss a portion of university schooling due to the sudden pullout. Hence, the loss of the university is definitely a big blow to Singapore’s hopes of expanding its industries and reputation as an educational powerhouse.
The second issue is the accountability of the University and the Economic Development Board who initiated the project. From the perspective of a student, I might think that they were irresponsible. I believe that more effort should have been done to promote the university to local and foreign students. Could the university actually not afford to run with a financial burden, or were they just being cautious? Could the EDB have helped in easing costs the university would have to incur? From the student’s point of view, it is definitely a big issue as such decisions have made or broken their future. However, we have to think in the shoes of the university. I believe I lack understanding in that area. NSW is after all still a company which has to earn money, and if I were in their position, $140 million is too much a risk of a financial burden. It would be more worth it withdrawing then going bust in the middle of a business endeavour. Hence, looking from the economic side, the situation seems much more justifiable.
In conclusion, after reflecting on the article, my views have changed to a more balanced viewpoint. The two issues on the balance scale are definitely student welfare and financial issues. Would Singapore tilt the scale in favour of students, or would they be more cautious with such ventures in the future? Risky ventures might end up resulting in an economic downturn for Singapore. Hopefully, much more consideration and weighing of priorities would be done in the future to prevent such episodes from occurring again.
i'm emo @ 8:02 AM
