The Blue and Gold - Issue 6 - August 2009

THE BLUE AND GOLDThe student’s voice • MICA (P) 200/03/2009 Issue 6 • August 2009

Almost 10and still growing

ALSO: The SMU Dragonz win big • A degree of flexibility? • What’s next after the financial storm for women? • Singapore beyond Lee Kuan Yew • Chinanomics: When

saying goodbye is difficult

An exclusive interview with President Howard Hunter

2 THE BLUE AND GOLD August 2009

By the time you read this I would have attended my fourth Convocation since 2006. Convocations mark the beginning of university life. It is the start of a new chapter of things to come. But for every new chapter started, there would also be

one that has ended - it is the start of a new journey, yet a time to take stock and reflect on what has gone by.

When The Blue and Gold started out in November 2007, it wasn’t an easy task because we started from scratch. But the enthusiasm and commitment of editorial staff and writ-ers helped see this publication through.

SMU will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. In this issue, we interview President Howard Hunter and get an insight of the milestones in his leadership of SMU over the years.

In our constant effort to seek viewpoints from students on various issues, we invited stu-dents to submit their own perspectives on the SMU ad campaign and their thoughts on orientation camps in SMU. A special report on the recently concluded feedback session with students is also included.

We also feature views from beyond - an exchange experience from Turkey this time.

As you flip through these pages, look forward to the perspectives on politics on issues both local and abroad.

And if you feel inspired by what we have put together, do join us as we take this publica-tion to greater heights. Email us at [email protected] and tell us how you can contribute.

Ephraim LoyEditor-in-Chief, The Blue and [email protected]

Editor’s noteTHE BLUE AND GOLDMANAGING DIRECTOR

Michael Ng

ACTING MANAGING DIRECTOR

Owen Tan

COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY, SMUSA

Valmond Teng

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ephraim Loy

EDITORS

School EventsBharath Raganathan

ViewpointSuren Rastogi

Higher LearningTruong Thi Ngoc Anh

WorldscopeEsther YeoTalisa Kaur Dhaliwal

TravelBharath Raganathan

DigitalPranav Backliwal

Campus ArtsPang Hui Qing

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Owen Tan

ILLUSTRATOR

Alexandria Neo

THE BLUE AND GOLD is a fully student-run publication of the Singapore Management University Students’ Association. All rights reserved. No part of this publication should be reproduced without the prior permission of the authors concerned and The Blue and Gold.

The Blue and Gold81 Victoria StreetSingapore [email protected]

THE BLUE AND GOLD

August 2009 THE BLUE AND GOLD 3

August 2009 • Issue 6

Cover storyContentsViewpoint4 Students, take action if you want change5 Time to walk the talkDickson Su presents his take on the SMU advertisement campaign 2009

7 Orientation camps are bittersweet memoriesEmile Law reflects on her Freshman Team-building (FTB) Camp experience.

Cover Story8 Almost 10 and still growingThe past and the challenges ahead

School Events13 SMU Dragonz win bigAngela Anthony reports on the first gold of 2009 for the women’s team

14 A degree of flexibility?A look at the options SMU can explore to al-low greater flexibility in changing degrees

17 CCA or GPA?Clash of the titans on the ageless debate once again

Higher Learning18 What’s next after the financial storm for women?The impact and policy implications from the 14th APEC WLN Meeting

20 Views from the ground21 Singapore beyond Lee Kuan YewEphraim Loy reports on the key ideas at the Temasek Foundation – Nanyang Technological University Asia Journalism Fellowship Seminar held on April 21.

Worldscope24 Taming of the Shrew: TigersTalisa Dhaliwal charts the path of the Tamil Tigers.

26 Chinanomics: When saying good-bye is difficult

Travel28 Warm TurkeyElvin Ong shares his thoughts on the people, politics and passion of Turkey

CCA Pages31 Take on Taekwondo32 This house believes that debate can change your life34 Floorball: Not for plain Janes36 From SMUrF to UltimateThe SMU Ultimate Frisbee team share on their history, successes, and plans for the future.

38 Not just about blood donationsThe SMU Red Cross society reveals to The Blue and Gold what else they are up to.

40 Silat: More than a martial artBackground of the art and Pencak Silat in SMU

42 More than just runningSMU Track and Field is about friendship, determination and hard work

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Viewpoint

Students, take action if you want change

I refer to your article (“The GSR Debate”) and Elvin Ong’s commentary (“What are the rights of an SMU student?”) published

in Issue 5 (May 2009) of your magazine, and would like to offer my perspective on these inter-linked issues.

The question of student rights over policies in-troduced by the school administration is reflec-tive of the culture of the developmental state in Singapore. There is an “unspoken contract” between the school administration and the stu-dents - the offices run the school, we just pay the fees and study hard. This perpetuates the culture of dependency on the school admin-istration because there is a lack of alternative decision-makers that students can go to.

But what about student bodies like the SAC? In theory, they are meant to stand-up for the “rights” of students. But in practice, the SAC is co-opted by the offices to help enforce and communicate to the school population deci-sions made by the offices directly or indirectly, not to serve as a check on the administrative authority of the offices. Ignorance on our part as students is at fault too. As Elvin pointed out clearly, if we don’t know what those “rights” are, what makes you think the offices do? Also, the offices have greater bargaining power in relation to students because they operate on a permanent basis in contrast to the SAC which changes hands annually after elections.

The school administration and the students have become so used to playing the rules of the game that they and we do not know how to respond when students’ “rights” are violated. Clearly, the GSR issue shows that these rules have to be changed and there should be an improved framework to take into account

the views of students before such policies are implemented. To be fair, we must understand that the school administration’s intention of introducing the GSR policy is done with the best of intentions at heart, albeit with a different approach that what some of us would prefer. Issues like the GSR debacle are ultimately healthy because they not only galvanise students to take action in response to a perceived violation of their “rights”, but also allow the administration to know where some of their policies stand, and how certain initiatives that they introduce can have a negative impact on many students. This encourages the different stakeholders to take ownership of issues that affect them.

To prevent such debacles from happening in future, this requires a major shift in the relationship between the offices and the SAC from a patron-client relationship to a trusted partnership. The SAC should be co-opted as co-decision-makers alongside the school administration on matters that affect students directly. Policies such as the usage of GSRs were obviously made months in advance, and can be better implemented if they are made in consultation with the SAC. I suggest having consultation sessions between the SAC and the various offices at least twice a year, where such issues can be raised and clarified by the respec-tive offices.

To help the SAC cope with this “expanded” role, they should increase the number of sub-committee members to assist with the daily op-erations of student-life affairs, so that the core SAC team can devote more time to strategic is-sues such as building up the SAC’s partnerships with the various offices, and communicating

students’ desire to be part of the decision-mak-ing process in SMU. Next, the SAC can better communicate the instances where they have stood up for students’ “rights”. They should leverage more on the networks of the Constitu-ency Bodies to find out what students think about certain issues, or at least provide more channels of communication between students and the SAC, taking into account that many students do not know which existing channels to use to air their grievances.

Finally, annual elections for the SAC may seem “democratic” but may be disruptive to the operations of the SAC who are often more focused on short-term issues of student welfare, rather than long-term issues of building part-nerships with the various offices. Hence, the term of the elected SAC should be extended to two years. Certainly, what I’m proposing may seem unconventional and the recommenda-tions are subject to more debate and scrutiny. But as every student who loves SMU should know, if you love your school, you should be prepared to take action to improve the school, not just wait around for changes to happen.

Kenny Tan School of Economics

Write to us if you have something interesting about school or school life you would like to share with us. Your article should preferably be less than 1000 words. Send us an email at [email protected].

Letter to the editor


Viewpoint

The SMU advertisement campaign for the incoming batch of freshmen in 2009 was a refreshing parting from

past campaigns that had harped upon the “difference” in SMU students without giv-ing away what the differences were. Besides being the experts in business presentations, corporate networking and the “Return-on-Investment” of the Singapore government, the average SMU graduate has turned out to be scanty a difference compared to peers from the other varsities.

Nine years on, where is the holism in our students that was once touted as the unique selling point of our university? We are supposed to be thinkers, not just learners; immerse in broad-based education, not just single-minded regurgitation of past thesis pointers from our professors. To be marked down in our class participation when some of us bring out an alternate or opposing viewpoint as our professor’s point of view is a mere manifestation of the latter.

Perhaps, our external circumstances have not been favorable for us. Ironically, prior to the sub-prime crisis that later proved to become an almost uncontrolled global economic

pandemonium, the booming economy that Singaporeans had been enjoying as the spillover result of skyrocketing economies in China and India have made the corporate world especially enticing, more so in specific sectors like banking and consulting.

Certainly, one would have been thought a fool to deny those riches. Conceivably,

that could have sparked the great pursuit for the finance majors in SMU, so much so that even those with nary a notion of what they want to do for the rest of their lives have jumped onto the band-wagon too.

That the incontrovertible rage of SMU students degrading into mere money-chasers could have prompted the same student magazine to cover about it in its fourth quar-ter issue last year. In the words of Associate Professor of Organisation Behavior and Hu-man Resources Tan Hwee Hoon, she says, “A lot of students now take Finance as trend. Everybody does it. So should they.”

However, the English proverb goes, “a fool and his money are soon parted.” And so we know that is true of today. Without going so far into the dangers of the single-minded obsessions, the board of SMU might have picked up this potentially detrimental trend taking root amongst its students and fearing the dearth of self-consciousness (stemming from the obsession) of its students bearing upon its corporate reputation, it has quite plausibly as a result, embarked on an admis-sions advertisement campaign this year, to refocus on the holism of its students and curriculum.

All-round holistic learningFor its 2009 print campaign, SMU has identified several key themes that make up its cornerstone and produced them in a real-world environments that take place in various seminar rooms in the campus, ranging from global perspectives to social responsibility. Amongst the various lessons that were being taught out, there were sev-eral which stood out strongly. “Is it possible to find wealth without losing your soul?” and “You learn more about the world when you learn from the world” are a couple of such examples.

Time to walk the talkDickson Su presents his take on the SMU advertisement campaign 2009

it’s about professional excellence it’s about a journey more daring

it’s about reshaping the world

it’s about raising the bar

is it possible to find wealth without losing your soul?


Viewpoint

Etymologically, the use of words like “loss”, “soul” and “learn” are very powerful in themselves. “Loss”, for instance, connotes permanence – when you lose something, you don’t usually expect to recover it; “soul” itself asserts the deeply-rooted essence of human beings that is made up of our emotions, cognition and self-expression; and “learning” is not only for us to secure a high-paying job after graduation, but to lead our lives, in complete, fulfilling ways. Stringing these words together, they certainly provide much food for thought. To this point, the focus of this year’s SMU print campaign is indeed applause-worthy.

Walking the talkHowever, the success of the campaign lies not on how well-received it is initially, for to do so would have been overly myopic. Instead, that success should be determined by the holistic calibre of its students which the school has produced. They would subse-quently go on to be a testament to the true beliefs and values of the university.

Henceforth, SMU should walk the talk in its adver-tisements and ensure that

its students are truly nurtured in holistic thinking, global perspec-tives, sound business ethics and the other values that it purports to promulgate.

Quoting Academic Kenneth Paul Tan, at the Outstanding Educator Award public lecture on April 28, he says, “the university experience should not be reduced to a stage in life that one has to put up with in order to obtain the real qualifications to get ahead in ‘real’ life.”

Taking a leaf from his views on pragmatism, Associate Professor Kenneth Tan adds that it “can serve us well in a diverse, multicul-tural and globalised world. But pragmatism can easily degenerate into an unthinking mindset, more dogmatic than any ideology

it pretends to distant itself from. Uncritical pragmatism engenders the doer who will not think beyond the narrowly technical; who is incapable of moral reasoning, critical think-ing, creativity and imagination.”

Consequently, the people in SMU respon-sible for the campaign should not only focus on form, but also the substance in its mar-keting campaigns when attracting students. To this end, the school should continue to nurture and develop its students according to the greater purpose and aspirations set out at the beginning. On the other side of the con-tinuum of the stakeholders, students should not be lured simply by the school’s perceived brand image, but to wholly consider how the university can help them to develop their potential into full human beings.

So what can we do to ensure that SMU walks the talk? For one, introduce greater flexibility to foster open minds by allowing all students to read a subject which they are genuinely passionate about or better at. As Associate Professor Tan Hwee Hoon has not-ed, many students “have not known enough about subject matters or gained enough work experience to decide what they are keen on doing.” The crux of the matter lies in the policy for students to switch within the vari-ous schools in SMU. That after a student has been admitted into a school in SMU, it be-comes progressively difficult with the end of each term, to be transferred to another, with the exception of an excellent GPA, which thereby becomes an incentive for the latter school to accept the student. Veritably, this example falls in line with Associate Professor Kenneth Tan’s notion of dogmatic pragma-tism, which left unchecked, would not serve benefits in the long run to the university.

In conclusion, as in the words of Associate Professor Kenneth Tan: “Universities must – now more than ever – break down these barriers between thinking and doing.”

Read more student viewpoints on The Blue and Gold blog at theblueandgold.wordpress.com.


Viewpoint

Orientation camps are bittersweet memoriesEmile Law reflects on her Freshman Teambuilding (FTB) Camp experience.

A senior once said that the FTB camp was “not meant to be entirely a fun camp”. I discovered what this meant

when I attended my own FTB run. Looking back after a year in SMU, the words “fun” and “friends” most easily come to mind when I recall other camps. But when it comes to the FTB camp, I choose to sum it up in just one word - challenging. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to say that FTB was not fun. What I’m trying to say is that there is much more to the FTB experience than just ‘fun’ alone.

My FTB experience was a bittersweet one, filled with many lows and highs. I think many people can relate to that. The lows are the activities that we failed to complete, or did horribly at, while the highs are those that went amazingly well.

The spider web activity, as I remember it, was one of the most exasperating one. Getting everyone out of a tight string structure with-out touching any part of the string proved to be harder than we expected. Our repeated failures made us impatient and caused more mistakes to be made. It was hard to suppress frustration as we got tensed and annoyed with the mass of strings that made us look silly, which took a toll on our morale.

But I also fondly remember moments when we faced challenges, and beat them. No one can ever rob us of the triumph we felt when we successfully accomplished any activity. Besides the lows, the high points of FTB were the times when we pulled ourselves together to complete the inverted cone activ-ity. And nothing beats the renewed sense of motivation after suffering a defeat.Values were a major highlight of the FTB

camp. Which freshman doesn’t recollect the countless times when punctuality was reemphasised, or when their facilitators kept instilling in us the importance of integrity as they completed each activity?

I can probably go into an elaboration of every single activity during FTB, but that would take forever. Above all the planning, simulations, execution as well as the debriefs that we had to go through, what I took away from FTB was the value of team cohesion, communication, but most of all, a better understanding of the challenges of an SMU education.

SMU is the only university in Singapore that has a student-led freshmen orienta-tion camp that focuses on learning. And indeed, the FTB camp aptly sums up what our university life, and even life as a whole, is really like - exciting, challenging, and full of surprises. In SMU, you never know how projects will definitely turn out, what kind of obstacles you will face. There are some modules that seem to go naturally well, while others look as if they were made to make you go crazy. We simply learn through trial and error, doing things the best way we know, and continually improving ourselves.

Most people, myself included, will agree that we had been to more enjoyable camps, such as Bondue, ASOC and other individual school and club camps. Those camps were

the ones we that left us with stitches from laughing. But having a FTB camp - a “Team Building Camp” that focuses purely on fun would fall short of its name. It would have undermined every freshman’s expectations of the challenging and competitive SMU life that they had signed up for when they decided to attend SMU. Instead, a learning camp that humbles you and makes you re-alise the importance of values and teamwork sets the right tone for the next few years of intensive learning, as well as your life beyond university.

As much as we may agonise over having to attend a compulsory camp as a freshman, a memorable FTB experience will never fail to bring us in SMU together. Meeting people from different schools and backgrounds, it’s really nice to share a common experience. FTB memories will at any point in time, bring back memories of our beginnings in SMU, and serves as something that connects all of us together.

It took me a while before I began to ap-preciate the activities done during my FTB camp. I am still learning from my own FTB experience. And looking back after one year at SMU, I have come to realise that I will cherish my FTB journey for a long time. Although the FTB camp is “not meant to be entirely a fun camp”, it is an impactful one, if you embrace it with an open heart.

“The FTB camp aptly sums up what our university life, and even life as a whole, is really like - Exciting, challenging, and full of surprises.


Cover StoryAlmost 10 and still growingThe past and the challenges ahead

and ushers you to take a seat.

“President Hunter will be out in five minutes,” she informs.

It is not everyday that one gets a chance to call on the person that has been at the helm of SMU for the last five years, Professor Howard Hunter.

The five minutes go by in a flash and it is time to go past those dark brown doors. Cheerily, Prof Hunter extends his hand. His greeting follows. A day in the life of the President of SMU usually fol-lows with a lot of meetings Prof Hunter reveals.

“Much of what a President does is to represent the university in a lot of public places ... a lot of my daily attention may be focused on things that are outside the university,”

These aspects involve the Ministry of Education, government agencies, private businesses and other

organisations. Among these, he also works on “development issues” in order to increase resources and endowments. When it comes to academic mat-ters, the Provost is in charge of the internal plan-ning and work, which the President oversees. But between external and internal affairs, the lines are not very clear cut and may overlap.

Prof Hunter assumed the post of President in September 2004 just years after the university was officially incorporated in 2000. During these years, there were many highs and lows - from celebra-tory events and milestones to accidents involving individual students and a suicide case involving a faculty member.

But it is the low points that gets him emotional. And the lowest point he has had was in the sum-mer of 2008 where a student was involved in a drowning incident during sailing training.

A set of comfortAble couches welcome you as the lift doors open. Enter-ing the doors of the Office of the President, a chirpy lady greets you

By Ephraim Loy and Alicia Ng


Cover Story


Cover Story

“It was a terribly traumatic event not only for family but also for the students who were involved.

“I was out there from just about the time he disappeared until the body was found. In that whole period of searching and looking until the body could be found, it was a dif-ficult moment on everybody,” he reveals in a slow and low tone of voice.

The many milestones include the move-ment from the old Bukit Timah Campus to the city campus, which was “like a military operation”. He says that commencements are high points too. And other high points include starting new programmes and the School of Law and the setting up of the Sim Kee Boon Institute - a multi-disiplinary research centre where Prof Hunter was involved in fund raising for the centre which was “key to attracting high quality of people from overseas”. Seeing the students that he has taught, in a few of his classes that he takes in a year, succeed are “rewarding over the long term” and it adds to what Prof Hunter sees as high points of his work here at SMU.

Still, he lets on that there have been fairly significant changes over the years and over both the campuses in addition to the highs and lows of his tenure.

“There are two or three things that have changed. One, the Bukit Timah Campus had far fewer people - it was a much smaller group of students. And for sometime, it was essentially business and accountancy. Economics began very small, SIS began very small. And then you had to bump into each other as you moved around because the space was not very great ... Here, there are a lot more people. There are more distractions outside of the classroom. There you could go to the Botanic Gardens and the Roti Prata place along Evans Road but there weren’t many hangouts in the region.”

Come 2010, this university will celebrate its 10th anniversary but the efforts will be far from lavish.

“It is something to take note of, some uni-versities have their 100th anniversary, some have their 500th anniversary, and we are going to have our 10th. It’s remarkable what has happened in those 10 years, from noth-ing to a respected university with extraordi-nary good students. If you go back in history of most universities and look at the 10 years after their beginnings, they are still very small and not much is happening.”

But this is not to say that what has happened is not worthy of a celebration. Rather it is the current economic situation that warrants a modest affair.

“However, being mindful of the current economic situation, we are gonna be more modest in celebrating than we might have been when we moved into this great cam-pus,” as he reminisces the past and goes to describe the moment and calls it “fitting and appropriate”.

Prof Hunter explains that any access money saved from would be used to fund scholar-ships instead. But the 10th anniversary mood would not be dampened. The theme would be integrated in all planned events for next year and the 10th anniversary element will be built into these events.

He adds: “So the whole year will be focused on the 10th anniversary rather than some big expensive one-off event. One thing to look forward to: A more “dressed-up” Patron’s Day for the 10th anniversary among the other events.

As SMU looks forward to celebrate its 10th year, hot on its heels would be the competi-tion from the soon-to-be-opened fourth uni-versity in 2011. Underscoring the concept of the new fourth university would be “systems design” and “organisational design” and

Prof Hunter reckons the competition will be most intense in the Information Systems area as well as the competition for faculty and staff at all levels.

To stay in the game, SMU will have to be competitive in attracting and retaining good people. Still, Prof Hunter says that competi-tion is a good thing and makes one “more aware”.

Learning and doing more important than grades Page 11 >>

Demand for university graduates will grow Page 12 >>


Cover Story

If Prof Hunter was asked to give advice to students, what he would suggest is for them to spend a little less time worrying about indi-vidual grades and a little more time learning and doing.

This was the gist of two anecdotes that he had during his law school days which he recounted.

“One of our professors said, it is good to go to the library, you should do all that, but nobody ever got a job in the library except to put books away.

“What he meant by that was you need to get out - learn how to interact with other people, and be engaged with society and com-munity and school in a lot of different ways. You have to study (and) you need to learn what you do in class but if you only do that, you are not being educated and you are also shortchanging yourself,” he said.

Another anecdote which he shared about involved a colour photo-graph in the library at the law school which had two United States Senators from the state of Georgia. They were both from Emory Law School.

In this example, a student had posted a little question at the side of the framed photograph and people were invited to pen down their comments: “What do these two men have in common other than be-ing Senator and Emory School alumni?” The correct answer was that they were both ‘C’ students.

“And (they are) extraordinary bright people, but both of them were engaged with the world while also students,” he revealed.

And while the ‘A’ students become Professors, the ‘B’ students become mid-level managers and the ‘C’ students own the businesses, the message was clear: There has to be a balance to be drawn between grades and activities outside of the seminar room.

Learning and doing more important than grades: Prof Hunter


Cover Story

Prof Hunter explains that there would not be an oversupply of gradu-ates even with opening of the fourth university in 2011.

This is because the demand for well-educated people is growing exponentially. And the demand is particularly in the post-graduate field.

“The number of places in US universities, for instance, has not changed much in the last 25 years. And certainly the production of PhDs has not changed much. The identity of them (have changed and) there are more foreign post-graduates students in the US than there were 25 years ago. A lot of them come from China and India, but the total number of PhDs produced certainly has not grown with the growth of population or the job market demand for people who are educated.”

He cited examples of growth in areas such as Australia and Europe. Add to that an enormous growth in China which will boost world-wide demand for graduates.

“Singaporean universities have a great reputation outside Singapore. And I think there will be no shortage of demand for the foreseeable future.”

However, he explained that there could be changes to the aspects of demands – investment banking and finance as much as they did two years ago – and so students may shift their study focus over time.

He also cited the prospect of increasing demand of PhDs in Hong Kong. This would be due to an upcoming change to the undergradu-ate curriculum from three years to four years. This change will lead to a 25% increase in faculty numbers in the universities there

With the fourth university in Singapore coming up, there would also be such demand for people with post-graduate skills.

And that is why Prof Hunter hopes that graduates from SMU will continue to pursue education beyond the graduate level.

Demand for university graduates will grow: Prof Hunter

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School Events

The SMU Dragon Boat team also known as SMU Dragonz created a huge upset at this year’s Singapore Dragonboat Fes-

tival 2009. Held for the first time at the Marine Barrage, the Dragonz bagged their very first gold in the women’s tertiary 10-member crew, beating defending champions NUS to the first position. But it was a race to the finish with a neck-to-neck battle for the gold.

“We’re happy that we have been rewarded for our efforts,” Melissa Soh, womens’ captain of the SMU Dragonz said, “but we’re looking forward to the PM Cup race now.”

The PM Cup race is the most prestigious title for universities in Singapore. Sponsored by the Prime Minister, the four major universities NUS, NTU, SMU and SIM compete to win the coveted first position. Since its introduc-tion, the first and second positions have usually been a fight between NUS and NTU. This year, SMU sent both the men’s and women’s

crew for the competition and emerged 2nd and 3rd respectively in the fight to the finish. The men’s crew broke tradition by beating NUS for a 2nd place finish. This was on top of their earlier 2nd place finish in the men’s 20-member open category.

“It felt so surreal and I didn’t expect it to end so fast!” Teo Boon Kiat, a graduating paddler said. “The team has gone through a few lows in the past like seniors leaving and losing badly. But now, I think we are on the rise.”

After changes were made to bring in two new coaches, Jason Lim for the ladies and John Goh for the men, trainings increased in intensity and contributed to the fitness of the paddlers. The trainings were as often as four times a week during the school term and six times a week during the June summer holidays. Apart from paddling, the dragon boaters also engaged in cardio workouts like running and weights training.

“Training may be a little tough but it gives us sheer determination and focus.” Chian Kai Hong, Captain of the Dragonz said. “That re-ally helps in my studies actually!”

“There have been some trainings where I really felt like I wouldn’t pull through but I kept going.”Lim Sze Min, member and vice-president of the women’s team said, “I think it was because of my teammates! Everyone is accepted.”

To date, the SMU Dragonz is made up of ex-perienced paddlers, canoeists and newbies who all contributed to the recent success through discipline and teamwork. Starting with just 25 paddlers in 2006, the Dragonz have grown to become a club with more than 40 active paddlers.

The victory amongst the Dragonz lies not in the win alone but in the fact that they weren’t alone. They had done it together.

SMU Dragonz win bigAngela Anthony reports on the first gold of 2009 for the women’s team

Training may be a little tough but it gives us sheer determination and focus.

That really helps in my studies actually!” Chian Kai Hong,

Captain, SMU Dragonz

“


School Events

“It’s all about demand and supply.” That was the reply given by Profes-sor Tan Chin Tiong, SMU Deputy

President, at the Student Feedback Session, when students asked why there is a lack of flexibility for students changing their degree courses, more so why there is a GPA restriction for those who want to transfer to another school within SMU.

SMU students face difficulties changing their area of study should they not like what they started with. It would seem that SMU offers a “track” system, where students take a specified set of modules decided at admis-sion, with minimal changes for the rest of the programme.

During the feedback session, suggestions were raised by student to allow for greater flexibility in the system.

Intake systemCould it be possible that SMU students only pick their school, (Business, Economics, etc) after they have completed their university cores? This way, students can avoid the issue of picking the wrong school that they would not actually like when applying to SMU.

This would be similar to how some US universities operate.

While adopting the typical “American” system offers more flexibility for students, it also comes at a great cost. The administra-tion might have a much harder time predict-ing the demand for each school, and hiring the appropriate amount of faculty to teach the required modules.

In such a system, the university only knows the demand specifically for each school at the end of Year 1. If there is any surge in demand for any school, they have only a year at most to adjust to the demand. While it is possible to use past trends to predict future demand, there is still a degree of uncertainty to those numbers.

Professor Howard Hunter, SMU President, explains that SMU’s current structure is still the British system: Prospective students apply to different schools even though they are in the same university. There are limited number of places, which are negotiated with the Ministry of Education, and the transferees are in direct competition to those entering in the first year for each school.

In the British system, the university is able to know the demand for each school from Year 0. They can have almost two to three years to react and hire the appropriate amount of faculty. By the time the students declare their majors, there should not be much variance from the original number predicted at Year 0.

How does this affect the bottom line? Most universities using the American model would need to have a larger pool of faculty - a “buffer” in case the demand goes beyond

Year British System American System

0 Student Gets Admitted to a School (E.g. School of Eco-nomics)

Student gets admitted to the University

1 Student does his core university modules

Student does his core university modules

2-3 Student picks his major within the school

Student picks his Major across the entire uni-versity

A degree of flexibility?A look at the options SMU can explore to allow greater flexibility in changing degrees

By Michael Ng


School Events

projected figures. Universities need to be significantly larger to be able to do this. And even so, the “utilisation”, for the lack of a better term, of each faculty is lower.

Adopting the British system allows the university to run on a slimmer operation. Instead of concentrating on the number of faculty members, the university is able to using the two-year gap to search for quality faculty. Money spent on hiring “buffer” faculty can also be spent elsewhere in the university, be it on facilities or on student life activities.

GPA restrictions for school transferCurrently, there is a GPA requirement for students who want to change schools because they like what they are studying, and can perform better elsewhere. That seems to be a Catch-22 situation. “I’m not doing so well in the subject area because I don’t really like it, so I have to stick with it.” On the other hand, “I am doing really well, so I like it and then I can move!” This seems to be the reverse of what the system should do: to allow students who don’t like a certain subject area to switch to

another that they can do better in. Prof Tan explains, “The number of students allowed to move is actually very small. Every school has a limited number (of places) and competi-tion to get into the respective schools in Year 1 differs tremendously school to school.” As such, each school has a different cut-off point.

Prof Hunter added that the GPA barrier might change over time and that it is just a handy marker to represent the limited sup-ply. But the question raised is “a perfectly valid one, whether the system should be set up this way.”

More Pass/fail modulesFormer SMUSA President, Andrew Wong also brought up a point during the session on whether SMU could have more pass/fail modules for students to expand their horizons, and learn something out of their core competencies.

The policy will be able to allow more stu-dents to take modules that they would not normally. But, with more pass/fail modules, it might be the case that the demand for each module will be much harder to predict

for the school administration. This will put stress on the current faculty, where some pro-fessors have voiced concerns that they have too many classes to teach.

Looking from the students’ point of view however, there is a sizeable benefit with more pass/fail modules. Some students had reflected that they learn better in their overseas exchange, where they are not under the stress of grades. Whether this would be implemented in the future was not discussed in the session.

Final tipsIt would seem that the system in SMU is such that it is more suitable for students seeking “tracks” or a set of modules related to their degrees. While the university still offers many options for “customisation” later on, it would be advised that students start planning what modules they want to take early. To do so, students can approach their career counsellor from Office of Career and Services (OCS) to explore their career options in order to know more about the options available.


School Events “ Let companies who have GPA cut offs do what they do. Don’t let someone else decide your life for you. It may be great

salary, but it may not be that great life!”Prof Howard Hunter


School Events

“The learning experience from co-curricular activities (CCAs) may even be more valuable in the future than

the difference between a B+ and an A-”, said SMU President Professor Howard Hunter, at the Student Feedback Session 2009.

Without doubt, there are many opportuni-ties for SMU students to get involved in CCAs. There are over a 100 active clubs and societies in campus, all serving different niches. However, some students do not think they even have time for one.

“From day one, students have always complained,” Professor Tan Chin Tiong, SMU Deputy President said at the feedback session, “... that coming to SMU, looking at our advertisements, attending open houses and promotion sessions, the first impression they got was: ‘Wow! This is one fun school!’. The moment they step into SMU, “Wow, this is not quite the same! ... students are just overwhelmed with work, work and more work!”

And SMU students are overwhelmed with work, case studies to analyse, readings to pre-pare, project meetings to attend, exams and quizzes to mug for, while remaining active in class. Prof Hunter acknowledged this and said that the administration is always looking to reduce busy work - work that requires much effort but does not bring any value.

“But! I have confidence in your generation.” Prof Tan said, “I have kids of your age group, and I know that kids these days don’t sleep! One way or another, you guys are able to juggle your time, work, school work, CCAs

and at the end of the day, it’s all about time management, it is about managing your GPA.”

The only “managing” usually in campus is “maximising”. The payoff for pursuing

grades is clearly visible. Good grades, good job, good life. Even parents say so.

Picking “easy” professors, using every trick in the book to increase class participation, going as low (both literally and figuratively) as possible to entertain the professors during presentations then become the norm. Some students were shocked that they couldn’t get the A+ as easy as they did in previous institu-tions, and had to settle for an A- instead. The tragedy!

But what is there to get from getting in-volved in a CCA? The passionate students go for the experience, do something they really like and have a great time. The cynical ones go for networking and “resume-enhance-ment”. Some don’t even bother, because they know that employers scorn at CCA records in resumes, which are usually overdressed to impress.

“There seems to be a correlation between involvement in CCAs and improvement in academic performance,” Prof Hunter mentioned.

Indeed, students who are able to juggle both will develop good time management skills, something which is crucial in the real work-

ing world. What they get are also opportuni-ties to put what is learnt in class into actual practice. Through CCAs, students obtain knowledge beyond the textbooks, and also people skills. All these are crucial to one’s career and are ... intangible. To a person outside SMU, CCA records in resumes are still words, marketing or fluff.

The benefits of getting involved in CCAs are usually long term, but it definitely shows when graduates enter the workforce, surprising their employers with skills beyond academia. Getting a good GPA suggests that you have the academic vigour in your stud-ies, and gets you into the interview panel of some prestigious company. There are many examples of successful graduates who have taken either path, or both. What matters in the end, however, is what students decide for themselves.

“Let companies who have GPA cut offs do what they do,” Prof Hunter added. “Don’t let someone else decide your life for you. It may be great salary, but it may not be that great life!”

While school-driven incentives can only do so much, it is up to students whether they will leap out of their comfort zone and break away from relying on tangible benefits as motivation. With at least 12 years of a result-orientated education, it is without doubt that they will make the right choice for themselves - the carrot or the promise of an invisible carrot.

CCA or GPA?Clash of the titans on the ageless debate once again

By Michael Ng


Higher Learning

Discussions on the impact of the financial crisis on women were clearly evident at the 14th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women Leaders Network (WLN) Meeting. A large number of speeches on the topic of the financial crisis dominated the three Plenary Sessions over the two-day conference.

In her keynote address, Prof Chan Heng Chee, Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to the United States noted that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned that the economic crisis could lead to 22 million more unemployed women this year.

Executive Director for the United States Devel-opment Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Ms Ines

Alberdi quoted UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon who said that the global crisis could plunge millions more into poverty and risk social and political unrest.

She also shared that the ILO predicts that in Asia alone up to 113 million people may be unemployed in 2009.

“While men’s job losses initially increased faster than women’s, especially in industralised countries, more recent data show that the job loss rate for men is slowing, while that for women keeps going up, reaching as much as 7.4% in 2009, compared to 7% for men,” she highlighted.

These job losses follow gender lines accord-ing to an analysis of seven industry groups in Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. Further, women are especially vulnerable in developing country export industries. In these industries women comprise up to 70-80% of workers. She also revealed that the economic crisis will also affect up to 75% of migrant workers of which 80% are women. These workers may be forced to return home after they lose their jobs in the downturn.

Ms Ines also said that more women will also be pushed into insecure jobs at a faster rate than men citing a March 2009 report on Global Employment Trends for Women by the ILO.

What’s next after the financial storm for women?The impact and policy implications from the 14th APEC WLN Meeting

By Ephraim Loy


Higher Learning

In Dr Noeleen Heyzer’s speech to kick start the Plenary Session on “Weathering the Storm: Advancing Women’s Economic opportunities in the Current Financial Cli-mate”, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations said that the current crisis is different and that solutions to weather the storm this time will have to be different.

She also added that in the previous crisis inequality and gender gaps were not closed and resilience and social foundation were not built.

Dr Heyzer further called for deeper reforms in a more inclusive way. She said that reforms should not only be about the future economy and future society but also tackle the ecological imbalance.

Government packages also need to promote women’s economic interests while dealing with the global financial crisis.

“We must make sure that growth is more inclusive and socially equitable. This includes ensuring that women have access to oppor-tunities to participate in national economic recovery and that they emerge from this crisis in a better position to participate in our region’s bright economic future,” she said.

Apart from stimulus packages that focus greatly on infrastructure and public works which create jobs that benefit women in the construction sector, Ms Ines said that there is a need to look beyond the jobs to identify the benefits while considering gender equal-ity.

“We also need to look beyond jobs to see who the infrastructure will serve - will roads assist women to get to the market, or their children to schools and clinics, will schools and clinics be provided in rural areas, or in-digenous communities – and if so, will there be money to staff those schools and clinics, and will women be encouraged to apply?”

Women’s unpaid labour which increases in economic downturn should also be consid-ered. And even in the ‘green economy’, Ms Ines also called for equality in wages through training and information to allow equal competition with men.

Key to the discussions is the implementation of the recommendations.

The challenge then is to continue to ensure that women’s issues stay on the agenda even with the challenges that the economic crisis brings according to Ms Anita Botti, Deputy Director, Department of State’s Office of

Global Women’s Issues – USA.But beyond the discussions, international gatherings such as the 14th APEC WLN Meeting are platforms to motivate women and are good avenues for networking and sharing of ideas.

Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Malaysia’s Minister for Family, Women, and Com-munity Development said: “You learn new ideas. You learn about new products.”

Singapore Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representative Constitu-ency, Mrs Josephine Teo, who moderated the Panel Discussion on “Women in Business” said the session was a great platform for women to exchange their ideas and that the session was fruitful.

“In many of the APEC economies the efforts at arriving at policies that would provide better work-life harmony are still only begin-ning. There is a lot of opportunity for us to share and learn from one another.”

Over 600 participants from the 21 APEC countries, including India, Spain and Germany attended the meeting from 4-6 August. Also included in the programme were visits to various places of interest in Singapore.

There is a lot of opportunity for us to share and learn from one another.” Mrs Josephine Teo,Singapore MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC

“


Higher Learning

Views from the ground

There were no cultural barriers and no language barriers at the 14th APEC WLN Meeting.

I had expected to be confronted with lan-guage barriers but such instances were few. All the speakers delivered their speeches in English. Kudos goes out to Laura Albornoz, Chilean Minister of Women’s Affairs for going through every word in her speech in English even though she had felt like giving up halfway. She could have used her inter-preter but she did not!

Luckily I had no problems understanding the acronyms like MDG (which stands for Millennium Development Goals) and the topics that were discussed thanks to the knowledge gained from a Political Science background.Though I was not the only male attending

the conference, I sure felt outnumbered among women – there were 600 of them mind you!

The meeting, that was super-charge with girl power, has come to a close. I won’t forget the low blows specially targeted at men: “Men have only one job. Women have many,” and the funny moments and hilarious speakers such as Singapore’s Elim Chew and Philip-pines’ Pacita Juan. I recall Elim saying this at one of the workshops: “I was the most outstanding student in school - out side standing.”

Two Chilean ladies in their costumes, with their colourful drapes from head to back, added colour to the meetings and a cultural touch. It was an interesting sight to behold and perfect photo opportunity.

There was almost a political fiasco when a representative from Chinese Taipei offered a reply on the proportion of women in their Parliament in response to a comment on the average percentage of women in Parliament across APEC countries.

The various sessions could do better with fewer distractions such as handphones ring-ing and people talking and less of the fierce and impolite minders who save on their courteous replies.

Still the two-day affair was an eye-opening experience and a great opportunity to listen to debates and discussions of issues with an international perspective.

14th APEC WLN Meeting

Left: Ephraim Loy, The Blue and Gold’s Editor-in-Chief, with two delegates from South Chile at the 14th APEC WLN Meeting.


Higher Learning

“In 1981, Singapore’s long-ruling People’s Action Party was shocked when it suffered its first defeat at the

polls in many years, even though the contest was in a single constituency. I asked Dr Goh Keng Swee, one of Singapore’s three great founding fathers and the architect of Singapore’s economic miracle, why the PAP lost. He replied, “Kishore, we failed because we did not even conceive of the possibility of failure”.”

That anecdote was shared by Kishore Mah-bubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

The topic of discussion, Singapore Beyond Lee Kuan Yew: Institutionalising the Singa-pore Way, from Prof Mahbubani’s viewpoint was answered using three questions. One of which was the possible scenarios Singapore will face after the retirement of MM Lee. The other two are whether it is legitimate to pose the question of Singapore’s prospects beyond MM Lee and what has Singapore done to ensure the protection of MM Lee’s legacy.

Prof Mahbubani acknowledged that it is legitimate to discuss Singapore’s prospects beyond MM Lee. Citing MM Lee’s achieve-ments in nation-building, his wise advice as a statesman and his power to rally and persuasiveness, he added that the retirement of MM Lee will naturally create a huge political vacuum.

To answer the question on the protec-tion of MM Lee’s legacy, seven important measures were stated. The development of an exceptional education system, national service which has been deeply ingrained into Singapore’s DNA, strong public society and

strong civil society, a politcal party that has managed to win elections over time while dealing with the successful transitions of two Prime Ministers, multi-racial harmony, meritocracy and a culture of honestly in the public, private and people sectors.

The three scenarios of Singapore after MM Lee that were posed include: Singapore will make a smooth transition, the legacy of MM Lee will be reversed, and a mixed third scenario where the PAP continues to rule Singapore successfully but it has to do so with a strong opposition movement. The latter two, he said, are quite unlikely and improbable.

But the key point he was trying to make is that one needs to consider failure when at-tempting to succeed.

The second speaker at the session was Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings and Chairman of SMU. His thoughts go beyond political systems of governance and presents many comparative dimensions.

“Singapore’s equilibrium is stable, but static. There is no process by which a ruling party paradoxically, renews itself through defeat in the polls. And by which an entire na-tion self-corrects by one party taking over from another quite regularly. Obama after Bush, Blair after Thatcher – these are all the pendulum swings of a dynamically stable equilibrium.”

This sentence reflects, in a sense, why the Singapore system does not tolerate failure but also spells the fate of Singapore without the PAP.

Mr Ho acknowledges that the Singapore sys-

tem is one which is responsive to its citizens and able to deliver better livelihoods and capable of leadership self-renewal beyond Lee Kuan Yew.

He states two qualifications: first, whether political renewal within the PAP can produce leaders of sufficient calibre that Singaporeans will continue to support this unique one-party-dominant system. And second, how the Singapore society and its people fare and fend for themselves beyond Lee Kuan Yew.

That is why he acknowledged that the ruling PAP has to be competent and have internal political self-renewal to sustain beyond Lee Kuan Yew.

Through comparing Singapore and China, he posits that there could be a new emerging model of governance: “Both the PAP and the CCP believe that they can buck the trends of history and create sustainable, uncorrupted, vibrant and responsive parties which can rule uninterrupted for much longer than a half century. Certainly, their track records to date give reason to take their attempts seri-ously, even if the weight of history is not on their side. If they do succeed, however, they will have created a new model of political governance which will genuinely challenge the fundamental assumptions of Western liberal democracy with its requisite two-party model.”

He further feels that Singapore will outlive not only Lee Kuan Yew but even the ruling party with respect to his second qualifica-tion.

The Singapore that he sees, will continue to be shaped - slowly liberalising, accommodat-ing and changing towards the demands of the new generation in incremental steps.

Singapore beyond Lee Kuan YewEphraim Loy reports on the key ideas at the Temasek Foundation – Nanyang Technological University Asia Journalism Fellowship Seminar held on April 21.

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Worldscope

No, it is not the Taliban. Nor is it the Al Qaeda. It is the Tamil Tigers which is the world’s most ruthless and advanced

terrorist group. The Tamil Tigers were the inventors of the deadly suicide vest and cyanide capsules, which they would consume upon capture by an enemy. These sadistic ways of the Tigers are deployed by other notorious terrorist groups today to spread their terror. So how did such an awe-inspiring, yet brutal, terrorist group meet its end?

To understand the reasons for its obliteration, it is crucial to understand the history of the Sri Lankan conflict and how the Tamil Tigers came to be.

Sinhala nationalistic and ethnic tensions Discrimination of the 3.2 million Tamil minority ensued from 1948, the year Sri Lanka gained independence from the British. Sinhala nationalism was rife in the new government. This fast permeated into the lives of the ordi-nary Tamil citizens.

It started in 1949 when Indian Tamil planta-tion workers were deprived of citizenship. In 1956, under Solomon Bandaranaike, Sinhala was made the official language of Sri Lanka. Many Tamils were discriminated against in jobs and education in favor of the Buddhist Sinhalese majority.

This was met with swift riots when Tam-ils protested against the unfair laws. These were the first few signs of the brewing ethnic tension. However, paying no heed to such ominous signs, newly elected widow, Srimavo Bandaranaike, continued the nationalisation programme.

In 1972, the Tamil minority was further antagonised when Buddhism was declared the

Taming of the Shrew: TigersTalisa Dhaliwal charts the path of the Tamil Tigers.

Tamil Eelam territorial claim (green) and approximate de facto territory controlled at the time of the launching of the 2008–2009 Sri Lankan Army Northern offensive (yellow).During the final army offensive, however, all of this area was re-captured by Sri Lankan forces.Source: Wikipedia

S R I L A N K A


Worldscope

primary religion of Sri Lanka.

The Tamils’ response to their dire predica-ment was the birth of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - widely known as Tamil Tigers - in 1976. This formidable separatist militant organisation retaliated by waging the Sri Lankan civil war. Their main aim was to forge an independent Tamil state - named Tamil Eelam - in the north and the east of the island. They quickly gained popularity and had the support of much of the Tamil minority.

In spite of such intense fervour for their cause, strong support from their community and growing military strength, the Tigers committed several grave mistakes which eventually sealed their fate. The downfallThe assassination of Rajiv Gandhi - India’s Prime Minister in 1991 - proved a costly mistake of the Tamil Tigers.

In the early stages of the Sri Lankan civil war, India declared loyalty to neither the Sinhalese government nor the Tigers. Being the island’s closest neighbour, India took on a role as mediator. India was a key player in brokering peace deals and ceasefires between the opposing parties. India’s sympathy for the Tamils was demonstrated in the 1980s.

While Jaffna was under siege by Sri Lanka’s military, the Indian Air Force air-dropped 25 tons of food packages and medicine to the Tamils. However in 1998, when a court in India found LTTE leader Velupillai Prab-hakaran responsible for the loss of India’s beloved leader, India changed its stance in the Sri Lankan civil war.

Henceforth, the Tamils ceased to gain help or sympathy from India. India’s subsequent joint patrols with the Sri Lankan navy drasti-cally reduced arms supplies to the Tiger. Till date, there has been no known justification or reason for Premier Rajiv Gandhi’s assas-sination. In fact, in 2006, LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham stated regret over the assassination.

The incessant use of violence by the Tamil Tigers was another unwise move. Cease-fires were momentary and talks were very often suspended by the Tamil Tigers. Under Velupillai Prabhakaran, violence was often deployed by LTTE. He was responsible for leading the first use of suicide bombings as a common form of attack. These attacks were often against civilian targets.

As a result, LTTE was branded a terrorist organisation. The recruiting of child soldiers and killings of members of rival Tamil groups were further questioned by the local as well as international community.

Time and again the Tigers had shown that they did not want to settle the conflict peacefully. Thus, in early 2009 the govern-ment - under President Mahinda Rajapaksa - responded with such intense violence that no preceding president had responded with. This eventually led to the Tigers crushing defeat.

The main cause for the end of the Tamil Tigers was the change in the Sinhalese leadership. In the 1990s, Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the cabinet minister and leader of opposition party. He had seen how previous leaderships struggled with the Tamil Tiger problem.

Hence, he adopted a hardline view of the Tamil Tigers before becoming Prime Minis-ter in 2005. He launched his campaign for presidency by rejecting the rebels’ demands for Tamil autonomy. Under his government, Sri Lanka increased defense spending.

In 2008, his government abandoned a cease-fire. What followed was a stream of military offensives against the Tamil Tigers. The scale of the attack was unlike any which previous leaders had launched.

The military gained much success in gaining land which was once under LTTE control. Under the Rajapaksa leadership, the Tamil Tigers endured several major defeats in their strongholds. Important figures in the LTTE’s leadership were captured or killed. Among them was LTTE leader Velupillai Prabha-karan.

The Sri Lankan government has to win back the trust of the Tamil minority. The Tamils in Sri Lanka have been victims of many adversities, whether at the hands of the government or the Tamil Tigers.

The current leadership under Mahinda Rajapaksa should learn from the blunders of previous leaders and should not repeat the policy of discrimination against the Tamils.

Instead, the government could look to the policy of integration to unite its people as one. Once both Sinhalese and Tamils can live harmoniously together, it will not be long before Sri Lanka will tread on a path towards continuous progress. It can finally live up to its name as “The Pearl of the Indian Ocean”.


Worldscope

When I first started on this running column which was continued on The Blue and Gold blog

throughout summer, I was not sure what would happen when I finally had to write the final article for this column. Would I be upset? Would I feel a sense of loss? Would I be relieved now that I have one less deadline to meet?

This column started out as a platform to discuss China economics, with a perspec-tive from a person being in China itself but slowly evolved to be one discussing life in China. It is only befitting to give some cred-ibility to my initial idea and wrap things up with this final article on life in China.

The first thing you learn in China: Things are never what they seemWhen my friends first learnt of my exchange destination, they were shocked beyond belief. The first question they asked was “Why!” which on hindsight was not much of a question, but more of an exclamation, which quickly turned from shock to pity. I was headed for a land full of spit, pollution, bad breath and the list goes on.

But as the (wise) saying goes, things are never what they seem. After all, China is the only country where the government gets to dictate what the people can or cannot do, right down to whether they are allowed to have bad breath. (China recently introduced a ban on bad breath.) The Chinese govern-ment has made huge efforts in containing the pollution problem, taking a leaf from

Singapore by introducing a form of COE on vehicles in Shanghai, or to the radical idea of allowing vehicles with a certain car plate number drive on certain days in Beijing.

Cultural and hygiene habits aside, transpor-tation in China is nothing short of excellent, with well-linked transport networks that get you to places. Public transport is cheap, and yes, that includes taxis as well. My urban economics professor in Fudan University shared this little insight with me, “Trans-portation in Shanghai has to be done well in order to serve both the residents of Shanghai, as well as the migrants that stream into the city.”

The World EXPO 2010 which is to be hosted in Shanghai is a huge event that has put the Shanghai government into frenzy a la Beijing Olympics, with a massive infrastruc-tural overhaul. More MRT lines are being added to the already well-developed MRT system (10 lines in service currently). Road widths leading to the city centre are currently being expanded.

Development comes at a price, unfortunate-ly, and much of China seems to be following Singapore by tearing down iconic places. The Bund in Puxi, Shanghai which is one of the most defining features of Shanghai has been torn down to make way for the MRT line.

If anyone still has the mental image of China being an underdeveloped society, even after the Beijing Olympics, you might want to change that image now.

When there are pros, there are consWhile Shanghai or Beijing might not make it to Monocle’s Top 25 Liveable Cities yet (Singapore is currently ranked 18th), the question is merely a matter of time. My stint in Shanghai bore witness to a burgeoning middle class which was heavily steeped in consumerism. However, for every individual in the middle class, there are at least five individuals still living in poverty in China and the income inequality is growing. It is common to see migrant workers squatting by the roadsides with cardboard signs seeking odd jobs or dragging their only possessions in a huge red and blue canvas bag to the train station to catch the cheapest train fare back to their village after being unable to find work in the city.

A very poignant and visual reminder of this income inequality will always stay with me which played out while I was queuing at a local ATM to withdraw money. In the next queue was a migrant labourer who was wait-ing patiently for his turn at the cash deposit machine. He took out a worn hundred dollar bill (around 20 Singapore dollars) and very carefully tried to straighten it out using his palms, handling it with utmost care. He had his turn at the cash deposit machine and was very careful about his money, taking a good 10 minutes to deposit my machine. I went into the ATM booth and stared guiltily at the wad I was taking from the machine. 100 RMB was nothing to me, and I would have probably spent it in half an hour on shop-ping. My situation was probably similar for a local middle class Shanghainese who would

Chinanomics: When saying goodbye is difficultBy Esther Yeo


Worldscope

not see 100 RMB as a significant amount.It was a very real experience for the eco-nomics geek in me on how not everyone benefits from a country’s rapid economic development, which was the first principle I learnt when I first started studying macro economics.

A rude awakeningNevertheless, I am grateful for my time in Shanghai, which opened my eyes to how quick development in China really was and that Singaporeans should not take Singa-pore’s position in the global economy for granted. The Chinese are hungry for success, for advancement in the social chain and they are willing to work hard for it. I studied among the brightest students in China who made it to university through grueling entrance examinations and do not dare rest on their laurels, studying hard to be the next generation of leaders and shakers of China.These are the people who will speak flawless English and Mandarin, making us Singa-poreans a group of people who still take Mandarin for granted and speak Singlish as

though the entire world can understand us redundant in the future.

One statement which once shocked me was made by a taxi driver, who upon learning I was from Singapore remarked, “Singapore will be nothing without China in the future.” While it may be dismissed as arrogance, the statement contains an element of truth in it - that with China as a rising superpower, Singapore may well and truly be nothing without maintaining a close economic and political relationship with it.

So long, farewellIt was with a heavy heart that I left Shanghai, but it is with an even heavier heart that I finally end this column. I hope my musings have left readers with a deeper impression of Shanghai and China at large, and that maybe, just maybe in the near future, you will consider visiting China if you have not already, and open your eyes to the wonders of the rising dragon.

Read more editions of the Chinanomics columns at theblueandgold.wordpress.com.


Travel

“Huh? Why are you going to that sort of place?” is usually the reaction most people have when I tell them about the

country I was heading to for overseas exchange. Apparently, the popular imagination of that sort of place includes Turkey. But is it true? Is Turkey like most of that sort of crazy, underde-veloped, dirty, dangerous and terrorist-hiding kind of country? Or is it just, as mentioned, a popular imagination? I was quite determined to find out for myself.

Firstly, most people have conflicting impres-sions on which region Turkey belongs to – Europe or the Middle East? If one chooses the former, then one find it difficult to reconcile the conventional identity of Christian Europe with Muslim Turkey. If one chooses the latter, then one struggles to see its economic and political role in the region.

In truth, because of its infinitely complex his-tory, society, geography and politics, Turkey is simultaneously strained at both ends of the

spectrum, pursuing European Union member-ship on one end and an active Middle Eastern foreign policy on another, while striving to maintain its own unique identity. One is able to have have a glimpse of this underlying ten-sion being a tourist (or in my case, an exchange student).

The famous Blue Mosque, Tokapı and Dolama-bache Palaces and the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul are reminders of the once glorious heights of the Ottoman Empire. The Hagia Sophia (once a church, then a mosque, now a museum) is another testament to the contest of religion and politics throughout its history. The young, hip and trendy hang out at Taksim or Bebek.

Outside Istanbul, the magnificent ancient Ro-man ruins of Ephesus (it can give Athens a run for its money), competes with the pumping club music of Bodrum, the serenity of Lake Van, the crowded ski slopes of Uludag and the sugar-dripping mouth-watering baklava in Gaziantep.

But beyond the usual touristic sights and sounds, what is most endearing, to this ex-change student at least, is the Turkish people. If there is an award for being the most passionate group of people in the world, you can be sure that the Turks are right up there competing with the rest on three things – football, politics and friendliness.

If you are a fan of football and have never been to a Turkish soccer match, you should. In one of the first class that I attended, the professor casually remarked that having attended a Fer-nabache versus Galatasaray match the previous night before is a legitimate reason for hand-ing homework in late and that one will not be penalized. He proudly wore a Fernabache pin on his jacket. He warned the exchange students not to get into any fights. On match days, the entire school is glued to television sets. My fellow exchange mate is now used to the “crazy Besiktas guy” who randomly charges into his dorm room at odd points of the day to give some victory cheer. Once, a previously

Warm TurkeyElvin Ong shares his thoughts on the people, politics and passion of Turkey


Travel

quiet classmate jumped up at the back of the classroom and declared his intention to convert me into a fan of Besiktas when I casually mentioned to someone else that I did not prefer any team.

From personal experience and from what I have heard, the atmosphere at the Galatasa-ray, Fernabache and Besiktas (the three foot-ball teams in Istanbul) stadiums overwhelm-ingly trump Anfield, Old Trafford, Emirates, Nou Camp, Santiago Bernabau and Stadio Olimpico.

On the subject of country, the Turks are in-tensely proud of their cultural heritage, the Turkish national identity and its associated politics. Once in class, someone sparked a debate about the Kurdish separatist move-ment and spontaneously, everyone was rais-ing their hands and offering their own views on the complicated issue at enthusiastic lev-els not seen on other topics. I have also lost count of the times how conversations during project meetings would eventually meander

its way into discussions about conservative and liberal values in Turkish society. I was also quite amazed at the plethora of political parties in contest and the election coverage by the media during the local governance elections in March. As much as there is a debate about values, norms and policies, participative democracy as a value itself is deeply ingrained in the blood of the Turkish people.

Finally, a word on the last passion - friendli-ness. Again, I have lost count of the number of random students in school who have come up to us to initiate conversation. But what is more interesting is what happens outside of school.

A friend touring Istanbul once declared on her Facebook status that the locals were “overly-friendly”. That might be an understatement. In general, Middle Eastern people are the touchy-feely types, so whenever you have a conversation with them, they might touch your arm, shoulder

or somewhere else. Usually, this is to display understanding, connection and empathy with what you are saying. It happens to guys and even girls too.

The general case for girls is usually that if you able to guard yourself well and make the appropriate friends with random strangers approaching you along the streets, you may find yourself being treated to free taxi rides, meals and have a tour guide accompany you throughout the day. In the best case scenario, you may even be adopted by a taxi driver who will bring you home to his family to enjoy authentic Turkish meals and a night’s stay in a Turkish home.

In the end, to this outsider of an exchange student, Turkey does not need to be con-fused about its own identity being European or Middle Eastern. By itself, in its own unique, diverse landscape, it has found a unique balance blending everything it needs to create beautiful people and a beautiful country.


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Take on TaekwondoBy Nadua Pauline Donceras

At the referee’s signal for the start of my sparring match, everything drowned out around me as I focused

on the opponent, the scoreboard and my coach’s voice. The next three minutes in the sparring area were the longest I have ever experienced; breathless and exhausted, the minutes felt like hours. Maximum concentration was needed to anticipate my opponent’s every attack, and the slightest of hesitation made all the difference between suffering a kick to the head and an opportu-nity for a counter attack. For me, Taekwondo sparring is an art that combines grace and power, speed and ac-curacy. During the adrenaline-pumping matches, fighters execute precise, powerful and swift kicks in order to score points. Sparring is also a display of skill and con-centration; from the way each fighter spots openings and delivers accurate kicks, to how one predicts and avoids attacks with agility. Each kick to the body is worth one point, while a blow to the head is worth two points. Sparring is a challenge of speed, endurance

and aggression, pitting one fighter against another for three intense minutes. Participating in the team Pattern competi-tion is not any easier. Teams of three have to practice non-stop, day after day, to synchro-nize every movement and action. Finally on competition day, the team performs the pattern in front of seven unforgiving judges who, in search of perfection, deduct points for every minor error made. Tension grips the air and each team takes their turn in the arena to display their highly-coordinated moves.

I was a bundle of nerves just before my team and I were due to perform. Yet, the anxiety I felt melted away as soon as I began perform-ing the pattern and the months of hard training took over. Relief washed over me as I successfully completed the pattern and awaited the judges’ score. The overwhelming feeling of satisfaction from seeing the gleam-

ing high scores and knowing I gave my best to deserve it, is something I’ll never forget. Perfection is the key here, and it is here that the months of hard training will reap results.

Such is the draw of Taekwondo for me.

Win or lose, the friendships forged during trainings, the teamwork built during pattern training and the respect earned and given when sparring against another are things that will last for a long time to come. As a member of the SMU Taekwondo Club I am able to participate in this rewarding martial art. But more importantly, I have found teammates and friends here that I know I can count on, be it in or out of the arena. I, Nadua Pauline Donceras, am a part of the SMU Taekwondo family; I never walk alone.

For more information on SMU Taekwondo, please check out their website at smutkd.smusa.sg.


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This house believes that debate can change your lifeBy Nivedita Venkateish

We live in a world filled with noise. Everyone has an opinion. An argu-ment. A viewpoint. Most illogical

some passionate, the others - just clutter. To make sense of some of the madness we need a voice of reason. Something that helps us anal-yse what is going around, what’s being said and what is actually true. This is where the SMU Debating Society comes in.

SMUDS who?The SMU Debating Society was set up seven years ago. Three undergraduates fresh from their experience watching the All Asian Uni-versity Debating Championships decided to bring the art of rhetoric home. Aided by three enthusiastic and incredibly skilled professors- Professor John Williams, Professor Kirpal Singh and Professor Tan Yoo Guan - SMUDS came into existence that August of 2002.

What do we do?The question now really is about what SMUDS does. As a debating society the primary aim of the society is to encourage and train its members in the art of argument. Based on logical reasoning substantiated by an immense reservoir of knowledge on world issues and ca-talysed by a passion that shines through in the form of “manner”, SMU Debaters are trained to ‘make a point’.

The key difference, however, between any other oratory society and SMUDS is the

reasoning that goes behind the argumentation. While stringing an impassioned speech may still be do-able, stringing a seven minute speech which makes logical sense at every possible layer is a bit harder.

This is where the twice-a-week debate trainings with experienced world-standard debaters and a stringent work ethic for keeping up with world issues comes in.

Successful much?Our members are trained in both styles of debating - The British Parliamentary and the Asian Style. They are made to go through

weekly sessions of case building where an issue is researched and discussed. These issues are then debated with more experienced members of the society and constructive feedback is given. Throughout the semesters all debaters are exposed to competition both within the club as well as with other universities through inter-university competitions.

By participating in prestigious competitions such as the World University Debate Tourna-ment (held this year in Turkey), the Asian University Debate Competition (which took place in Bangladesh) and the World Invitation-al Peace Debate Tournament (held in Malaysia) our debaters are exposed to a plethora of new experiences, which, both aid them in their debating prowess as well as introduce them to new people, cultures and diverse ways of life.


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The SMUDS experienceThese experiences have certainly paid off. In the seven years since its inception SMUDS has been made proud. A SMUDS team reached the elimination stage of the 2007 World Debating Universities Champion-ships held in Vancouver, Canada. The SMUDS team was also the highest ranked Asian team at this tournament competing with the likes of Oxford, Cambridge and Princeton. SMUDS adjudicators are not far behind, and have judged the Grand Finals at the incredibly competitive 2006 World Universities Debating Championships held in Dublin Ireland.

The squad also reached the prestigious semi-finals at the 2008 Asian Universities Debate Championships held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the elimination rounds of the Asian Universities Debating Championships in 2005, 2006, and 2007, thus being one of the most consistent performers on the

university debating circuit. It has produced wins at all three - the NUS, NTU and SMU debating competitions on a regular basis.

Apart from these SMUDS regularly or-ganises tournaments which bring the best minds across Asia together. The recent SMU Hammers tournament attracted over 200 participants from all over the region and boasted of a World Championship level chief adjudicator. The task of organising this event (which was the size of an Asian University Debate tournament) fell on the entire society and through cohesive work and extensive collaboration with SMU the tournament was a success.

In conclusion, although winning tourna-ments has been a feather in SMUDS cap it is not all that it has to offer. By participat-ing in our numerous events one can hone their ability to visualise, articulate and solve complex problems and concepts. The

SMUDS experience goes far beyond those weekly sessions and helps members hone their analytical skills for their SMU classes as well. Rationalising statements becomes much easier and verbalising thoughts is now a piece of cake. One’s knowledge on world issues increases manifold and simple opinions now transform into something to think about. Debating also increases one’s confidence level and speaking out in class for that participa-tion grade is now a walk in the park. Lastly but definitely not the least, being part of an organisation bigger than oneself helps see beyond our myopic vision and for the betterment of the society as a whole. Be it organising events, liasoning with a very patient SMU or securing collaborations - the SMUDS experience teaches you all.

So, the next time you walk past a SMUDS booth drop in and pay us a visit. You never know, it may change your life.

Facing page, left: In the seven years since its estab-lishment, SMUDS has done the school proud.


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Floorball: Not for plain JanesBy Ng Shi Hui

Do not be daunted by anything new. Instead, learn it, and enjoy yourself during the process. That was what

drove me to pick up Floorball when I was a freshman.

Two years have passed since my first contact with the sport - the Floorball Clinic. I remembered that my camp mates were the only reason as to why I was there at the clinic. As the camp progressed, I grew to love and enjoy the sport. The speed, the novelty of the sport propelled me to want to learn more of it. This whole article may well be read as propaganda to win hearts and minds; this, however, is a recollection of my experi-ence as a Floorball member.

So, what made me choose Floorball over so many other sports in SMU? I started out de-termined to join a sport CCA, with no target in mind. It was eventually the bond with the floorballers, formed within a short period of time which made me stay till this day. I didn’t feel like leaving. The hard trainings that we put in day after day and sharing with each other the thoughts are the little things that get us through each training session.

The emotions we felt together as a team, for the team, kept us going.

Apart from the competitive elements of the sport, the people I met in Floorball made the sport all the more enjoyable. Over the past two years, I have met and interacted with floorballers from other clubs and institutions and enjoyed the company of my fellow smufloorballers. The Singapore floorball community is small and warm. My smufloorball family is tight, interesting and loving.

Apart from trainings and frequent club gatherings, we are tightly bonded through participation in competitions. From dress-ing up as geeks together as a club at the Sports Fiesta, to doing everything together and eventually getting our well deserved ‘Most Enthusiastic Club’ award at the SSU Sports Awards Night. The little things we do together often become the fondest memories we treasure. Cliché, but true. On the other hand, fears and difficulties have risen, which prompted me to reflect and reconsider my decision of whether to

continue with the sport. These thoughts were especially common for the position I play - goalkeeper. Being the last line of defense for the team, I witness how my team has played throughout a game. I do not want to let in a goal as my team mates have toiled and perspired to win the game only for a goal to be let in. I get demoralised for every goal let in. Over time, I realised that this is just part and parcel of participating in a team sport, in return for the satisfaction and joy I’ve gained. For what is the joy in accomplishing a task alone!

Without Floorball, I would just be burying myself in books all day and this is something I would never want to go through. To me, an undergraduate life filled with experiences and enjoyment from CCA can never, and will never be exchanged for anything else. So dear Freshmen, go, go join a CCA today, enjoy what you do and you will not regret it. And to my fellow SMU seniors, step out and join one if you have not, you won’t want to live your SMU life plainly.

Learn as much as you can while you are young, since life becomes too busy later.


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Floorball player at Sports Fiesta 2006. Photo courtesy of OSL


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From SMUrF to Ultimate

It all started when a group of SMU students on exchange at University of British Columbia first caught sight of

people playing Ultimate Frisbee. They got so hooked onto the game that they decided to bring it back to Singapore and soon started their own club, SMU Recreational Frisbee (SMUrF) Club. That was in 2002.

SMUrF, now known as SMU Ultimate, has grown into a university team that competes at both the local and regional level. Every year, the club participates in local tourna-ments like the NYP Invitationals, a varsity level invitational IVP tournament, and regional ones such as the prestigious Singa-pore Open. Besides training and competing in such tournaments, SMU Ultimate also strives to promote the sport at a university-wide level. With its fun, social and beginner-friendly nature, it is widely regarded as one of SMU’s favourite sports, and is a regular sight on SMU’s Campus Green.

In the month of May, SMU Ultimate trav-elled up to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysia Ultimate Open 2009. After two consecutive days of running down the opponents, grab-bing discs flying in the air and, of course, soaking up the sun, the team was placed 7th out of 16 club teams. It was certainly an encouraging sign!

Second year Economics student, Cynthia Tan, was part of the 18-member squad that played in the KL opens. She started playing

Ultimate when she was first introduced to the sport in Anglo Chinese Junior College (ACJC) in 2007. An avid lover of Ultimate, and soon-to-be Vice President of the club, her desire is to spread the sport to as many people as possible within the SMU commu-nity. Though injured, she continues to attend trainings, standing by the sidelines cheering on her teammates and giving them advice.

Like many tertiary students around Cynthia’s age, Ultimate has been slowly introduced into various schools’ Physical Education (PE) curriculum. With more than 300 members since it started in 2000, the Ultimate Frisbee community in Singapore is set to expand and thrive over the years as more students start picking up the sport. Tertiary teams and professional clubs such as Freakshow and Shiok!, consisting of mostly working adults and students, train regularly on weekends at the fields in West Coast Park.

The seven-on-seven game features two teams battling against one another to score

in a stipulated scoring endzone. Combining aspects such as athleti-cism, teamwork and skill taken from various sports, coupled with the beauty of disc flight, Ultimate Frisbee has won over the hearts of many fans.

Distinguished by the “Spirit of the Game” principles of fair play, sportsmanship, and the joy of play, Ultimate is a sport that is very easy to pick up. Given that Ultimate is relatively new, those who are sick of the traditional sports played in Junior College/Secondary School should find the game to be a fresh and enjoyable challenge.

The SMU Ultimate Frisbee team share on their history, successes, and plans for the future.


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Left: The Ultimate Frisbee at Sports Fiesta 2006. Photo courtesy of OSL

Facing page: The Ultimate Frisbee team before the competition.


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Not just about blood donations

Journey CampJourney Camp 2008 is an annual CSP camp which has always been a significant event in our calendar. Through this four-day three-night camp, we hope to expose freshmen to the activities of Red Cross Humanitarian Network - SMU Chapter as well as to the activities that Singapore Red Cross takes up as a whole. This camp included a visit to the Blood Bank as well as to the Red Cross Home for the Disabled. We collaborated with the Asia Paranormal Investigation (API), allowing the participants to enjoy a night out at some of Singapore’s spooky places. A local community service project was also carried out where rice collected was donated to the needy families. All in all, about 100 participants of this camp enjoyed a fun-filled and meaningful camp, while contributing to the society at the same time.

First Aid and Disaster Preparedness DayThis is an annual event which we carry out in SMU to inform the SMU community on the importance of contingency plans in the event of a terrorist attack, as well as to im-part fire safety measures and simple first-aid skills. There was a First Aid Competition, a Fire Safety Talk, and a campus-wide Treasure Hunt to familiarize the SMU students with the various evacuation points in SMU. All in all, the event turned out to be enriching and fulfilling for all those who attended. It did definitely hit its target of reaching out to the SMU masses in a fun and engaging way.

A Truly Magical Christmas 2008The public blood donation drive was orga-nized with the aim of living up to the true ‘spirit of giving’ in the Christmas season. The theme last year was “Pyramid of Hope”. Be-sides, there were choir performances, magic

The SMU Red Cross society reveals to The Blue and Gold what else they are up to.


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shows, balloon sculpting and photo-taking sessions to serve as entertainment for all the donors. We collected a total of 752 bags of blood, hitting our target.

Project R.I.C.E 2009Project R.I.C.E 2009 was carried out this year on 17 and 18 January 2009. The target was to collect a total of 30,000kg of rice over the two days before they are repacked for distribution to the beneficiaries in time for the upcoming Chinese New Year. Project R.I.C.E. was met with overwhelm-ing response and support from the public, so much that a total of 40, 715kg of rice was collected over the two-day event - more than the original collection target. The rice collected went to at least 6400 beneficiaries from 14 welfare organizations.

Project Uom Mam 2009This project is a continuation of Project Uom Mam I and II; a three-year program with the objective of realizing the potential and dreams of students in Nguyen Ba Phat secondary school through comprehensive IT and English syllabus. After 8 months of preparation, the Project Uom Mam III team embarked on an 18-day mission on the 15th of May 2009 to Da Nang, Vietnam. The project was indeed an enriching and mean-ingful experience to all twenty-one team members. The valuable lessons learnt would definitely put them in good stead for the rest of their lives.

About The SMU Red CrossSMU Red Cross (Red Cross Humanitarian Network SMU Chapter) is part of Singapore Red Cross Society as well as SMU’s Special Interest and Community service Sodality. Our vision is to spread the spirit of volun-teerism and altruism amongst SMU students through various community service projects (CSPs). For the past three years, Red Cross has been awarded the SMU’s Best Commu-nity Service Club.


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Silat: More than a martial artBackground of the art and Pencak Silat in SMU

Pencak Silat is a martial art stemming from the roots of Malay & Indonesian heritage. Pencak Silat means “to fight using many techniques of self-defense”. This art is widely known in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Phil-ippines, and Singapore but can also be found in varying degrees among the Malay-affiliat-ed communities in Thailand. The art has also reached Europe, and is especially popular in the Netherlands, where it is as popular as karate is in the United States. Throughout their history, there were many wars between various indigenous tribes and kingdoms of the Malay islands, and expert Silat fighters were well respected and often reached high social and political positions.Pencak Silat is supposed to have developed from observing and imitating moves of vari-ous animals such as the “Monyet” (monkey), the “Helang” (eagle) or the “Harimau” (tiger), but its origins are difficult to trace due to a lack of written records. It is widely believed to come from religious hermits from India who travelled to and lived in this region in ancient times. Hence, Pencak Silat adopted a philosophical and near-mystical reputation due to its influence from religious teachers.

Pencak Silat developed rapidly during the 20th century and has become a competition

sport in some countries round the world. It is highly prized by the Malay community as a cultural bastion – a martial art that is also a way of life, a sport, a tradition and a means of moral and spiritual education.

Silat trainingPencak Silat is a complex system and has a wide range of offensive and defensive moves which are based on a variety of arm strikes, blocking, agility, footwork and weapon tech-niques. Practitioners may use hands, elbows, arms, legs, knees and feet in attacks. Com-

mon techniques include kicking, hitting, tripping, sweeps, locks, takedowns, throws, strangles, and joint breaking. Silat techniques focus on fluidity and precision of movement, with surprise being a key element to ensure fighting effectiveness. Weapons such as the knife, long and short staff, and the sword are employed in Silat training.

Practitioners in Pencak Silat work on four main aspects of the art – mental and spiri-tual, self-defense, cultural and artistic and finally the sporting aspect (see table).

All four main aspects of the martial art are considered and all elements are paramount during competition. It can be practised purely for fitness, for aesthetics or with mar-tial arts focus. The large variety of techniques that are deployed in Pencak Silat encapsulate its uniqueness.

Silat todayPencak Silat has developed rapidly during the 20th century and has become a competi-tion sport under the PERSILAT rules and regulations in some countires around the world. At the moment Pencak Silat is being promoted by PERSILAT in several countries. The goal of PERSILAT is to make Pencak Silat an olympic sport. Apart from the of-ficial PERSILAT line of making Pencak Silat a competition sport, there are still many tra-ditional styles practicing old forms of Silek and Silat. Pencak Silat is highly prized by the Malay community as a cultural bastion – a martial art that is also a way of life, a sport, a tradition and a means of moral and spiritual education.

Pencak Silat in SMUOur team, though small, is rapidly growing

The Four Aspects of Silat

Mental and Spiritual

Pencak Silat aims to build and develop personality and noble character. One must use their training to focus their mental and spiritual energies during combat situations or danger-ous emergencies.

Self-defence

Self-confidence skills and perseverance skills are very important. Without them, skills are reduced.

Culture and art

Culture and performing the “art” of Pencak Silat is very important. This combines Pencak Silat with traditional music and costumes.

Sport The physical aspect of Pencak Silat is important. We try to have a sound mind in a sound body. Competitions and in-tense training are part of this aspect. There are full-contact matches, as well as form dem-onstrations, for single, double or teamed.


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in size and extends our family to the non-Malay community as well. We are currently under the Sports Excellence program and strive with each training, to be better and stronger than what we were before. SMU Pencak Silat focuses on two categories namely the “Tanding” (Sparring) and “Seni” (Artistic).

Since we were founded in 2006, we have won many medals in Tanding and Seni com-petitions both locally and beyond the shores, most recently being the ASEAN University Games held last December at Kuala Lumpur, our Artistic Womens’ Regu Team beat hot favourites Malaysia and Indonesia to a Gold!

We have our trainings weekly and are guided by two very experienced Tanding and Seni coaches who hail from the Silat National Team. In Tanding matches, the categories are divided by weight and gender. The persilats spar one on one with another in the ring. One match has three rounds which last for about two minutes each. The persilat with the highest score for each round determines the winner for that round, and hence the winner for the match. The points are gained with each attack made by the persilat, for example, a punch is worth one point, a kick worth two points and a successful “Sapuan” (leg sweep) or “Jatuhan” (fall) earns three points.

On the Seni side, we do “Tunggal” (Solo), “Ganda” (Doubles) as well as “Regu” (Triples). The artistic side of Silat is simply a display of choreographed moves in three minutes. In Tunggal, the persilat exhibits a standard set of moves without weapons and a set with a display of skilful handling of the “Golok” (Knife aka Parang) and the “Toya” (wooden stick). Similarly in Ganda both no weapons and weapons are used, however there are two persons involved and both “fight” in choreography. Lastly, the Regu does not deal with weapons but the syn-chronisation of the three persilats to display a standard set of moves which requires trust and feel!

Over here, we have fun at trainings, shed blood and tears together, and we live by our motto: Because true strength has yet to be unleashed…

Left: The SMU Pencak Silat team. Below left: SMU Pencak Silat focuses on two categories - one of them is Tanding, as shown.


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More than just runningSMU Track and Field is about friendship, determination and hard work

Ever since its inception is 2004, the SMU Track and Field team has risen to become a force to be reckoned

with in the athletic arena. Despite having a smaller pool of athletes to draw upon as compared to established powerhouses like NUS and NTU, we have consistently held our ground, coming in 2nd runners-up in the 2008 IVP Track and Field Meet. Already, the team is looking across to yonder shores, with plans to participate in track and field meets in Malaysia as early as this coming year.

Despite the hectic academic schedule of a university student, team members still make it a point to come for trainings; observably, beneath the trainings and competitions, the team is bound by stronger bonds than that of mere teammates.

Prayaank Gupta, the incumbent Track and Field Captain, explains, “The team is like a

family, we support and encourage one another when the times are hard; and when the times are good, we party!” Despite being in his final year, Prayaank continues to actively involve himself within the team because he finds it enjoyable. “We don’t just train together, we go for team dinners, chilling, clubbing, and when the shit hits the fan, we gather in the library to mug it out,” says Prayaank.

Wayne Lim, a javelin thrower and second-year student, gives his (in-tentionally colloquial) take on how the team bonds together, “At the end of training, everybody is feeling quite shagged (tired), so we all have our own laughs at the stadium, and go for dinner later.” However, Wayne points out that beyond mere idle chattering, the members of the team watch out for one another, both on the track, and off of it. He goes on to say, “At first, I felt that I was merely another member in this team; but over the course of the year, I’ve became a lot closer to my teammates, because they were always there when I needed help.”

The team’s motto is to “Ex-ceed Yourself ”. Beyond the cursory reading of it to

denote each individual member’s commitment towards self-improve-ment, it belies a deeper notion of caring for others.

Amritpal Singh, a long-distance runner and second-year student, clarifies, “Track and

Field might seem like an individualistic sport, but it really isn’t. While we all have our individual performance goals, it is only when we work together that we are able to achieve them; we constantly try to outdo one another in order to push ourselves harder, but we never lose focus of each other’s well being. I feel that that is why we ‘exceed our-selves’, not only because we push ourselves to our limit, but because we encourage and push others to do so, and they reciprocate.”

This approach has served the team well, es-pecially in ushering in newcomers to the ath-letic arena. Jocelyn Chan, a middle-distance runner and third-year student who only took up the sport in varsity, feels at home with the team. She says, “Even though I had no


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Left: The SMU Track and Field team.

Facing page: SMU Track and Field came up 2nd runner-up in the 2008 IVP Track and Field Meet.

prior experience, the team was always patient and willing to help ease me into the training routines. When the training got hard, they would be there at every turn, encouraging and cheering me on; it was really heart-warming and really helped me to persevere and achieve a greater personal best.”

From the enigmatic yet charismatic Cherrin, to the jovial and friendly Joanna, the team is riddled with a myriad of great personalities, a diverse concoction that never fails to amuse and uplift the spirits of each and every team member. Devilishly tough trainings only

serve to drive deeper the friendships we all forge. The experience and relationships over this short tenure in our lives not only enrich us but teach us simple yet important tenets which we will hold dear with us forever – determination and hard work.

Track and Field is a group achievement made possible by individual events that encom-passes friendship. That is what is forever etched in our memories, from the friend-ships forged to the memories of training together, and of the good times we spent in each other’s company.

SMU Track and Field trains thrice a week during competition season, and twice a week off-season at CCAB on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Toa Payoh. For any queries, feel free to contact [email protected].

“Despite the hectic academic schedule of a university student, team members still make it a point to come for trainings; observably, beneath the trainings and competitions, the team is bound by stronger bonds than that of mere teammates.

Pru_SMUad_HR.indd 1 7/16/09 11:16:03 AM

The Blue and Gold - Issue 6 - August 2009

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